Regrets
by ArtisticMasochist
Summary: Liv Tremmain, a young R.P.D officer dwells within a basement and reflects upon the days prior to September 28th. Would he live to tell the tale?..Or die and become like the rest of "Them"? Updated CHAP VIII.
1. Prologue

"_Look…No matter what happens, I'll still protect you…" _

" _Really? You mean that?…" _

" _Of course I do…I mean every bit of it. I'll always be there…Just call my name."_

That was the promise Liv Tremmain made to his newly wedded wife upon their special day in front of their friends and precious family as they took their first dance. Now, he regretted that promise more than any mistake he ever made in his life. Tears swelled the moment he saw the lifeless corpse's finger twitch. It was inevitable…Everyone succumbed to the "Cannibal Disease" in one way or another. Through a single scratch…A bite…And it showed no mercy when it took over a healthy human being. Liv tried his best to drown out the horrid moans, the gurgling groans, and the dead weight that was constantly thrown against the sturdy basement door that kept him safe from the flesh-eating undead who wouldn't rest until they tasted his flesh.

Safe?...**Safe?**

Liv scoffed at that word. " Safe…" he spat and chuckled while chocolate eyes watched as the slumped corpse across from him lurch forward. He hated that word so much…More than all of his pet peeves piled together. He was far from that word in which he tabooed. Eyes had to wander away from the corpse in front of him just to survey the area…A.K.A., his soon to be grave. To die and not have enough time to forgive the hated or say your prayers…That was something he didn't want to think about at the moment. For now, he contemplated on how much time it'd take for the basement door to win second best in a contest between it and the zombies. Yup…he'd only be a midnight snack for the undead gang unless…

His "company" got first dibs.

Eyes quickly went back to the corpse who crackled and popped its joints while it was quickly adjusting to movement that was once restricted by Rigor Mortis. The creature gurgled and gagged upon thick blood bubbles that burst as the thick crimson liquid dribbled down its half-eaten chin. Yellowed, chipped fingernails scratched against the unforgiving, cold cement floor when the "fresh" zombie began to drag itself closer to the fallen cop that was only a mere three to four feet away slumped against an old refrigerator. "Love…is a burning thing…and it makes…a fiery ring…" the cop murmured while never taking his gaze off of the undead being. He opened his mouth to sing the rest of the song but his voice cracked the moment retched, bony fingers clasped tightly onto his denim-clad ankle.

_-What're you gonna do now, Liv? There's that water pipe right next to you…C'mon.-  
_

_- I can't…- _

_-Why not?…One crack to the skull…and it'll be over for that 'thing'…and then the others can get you.-_

"SHUT UP!" Liv screamed at the tiny little voice in the back of his mind that stabbed away at his brain with a mere pin-point needle. Great, now he was going "batty" as the guys back at the station called it. He even began to find the "Cannibal Disease" fascinating, but terrifying at the same time. It always amazed Liv as to how quickly the disease could re-animate a cadaver and kill off a living being just as fast. It could be that the cadaver could be missing legs and it'd still be revived. Being scratched? It only took a few hours or even minutes to eventually take over a single, healthy human being and turn them into yet another shambling corpse.

His grip upon the SIG P229 handgun tightened, but he didn't take aim yet. Tear stained cheeks were wiped quickly as if he had to hide his "soft side" from this retched corpse. He wanted to kill this thing…put it out of its misery…Possibly beat it's cranium in with the water pipe and watch it convulse in its own pool of blood. Either that, or squeeze off a round to go right through the eye and watch the milk white contents mix in with the blood. For some reason, that made him think of a nice strawberry shortcake.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, the officer took aim for the being who began to crawl up his legs, using his denim jeans as a means of pulling it closer. His finger would squeeze the trigger. God, he was so close in killing this thing…But once again, that tiny little gremlin-like voice in the back of his head made his aim waiver.

_-No Liv…You deserve every bit of this…You deserve to suffer this way. Besides, your gun is empty you fucking moron.-_

"NO. It's not fucking empty!" The trigger was pulled and the slide suddenly snap back, locking into place for the young officer to stare down stupidly at the empty chamber. Empty. The gremlin was right. That empty slide could tell any other dumb shit the gun was dry of bullets. His jaw suddenly clenched and the gun was thrown against the nearest wall, having it chip away brick before clattering loudly against the cold cement. Damnit! He couldn't even kill himself even If he wanted to!

Having that privilege being taken away from him had the officer tremble as the gurgling creature grabbed onto his R.P.D issued vest and dragged itself closer towards his face. Why the fuck didn't it bite him yet? Either way, he couldn't stand the stink of death…nor how the way flaps of pale skin began to rot off the thing's face. Eyes locked onto the bloodshot pair as it soon came face to face. Amazingly, this thing still had pearly-white teeth…and it's jaw opened wide to have a taste of the red-head cop.

"...I'm so sorry…"


	2. Chapter I

_**Author's Note: **_**Alrighty! I didn't think I'd continue this…But here I am, writing this down…and it's almost midnight here. I hope I finish up this Fanfic unlike others that seemed to totally turn me off to writing. It's been a while so please be gentle.. I don't wanna get set on fire just because I totally missed something and what not. Anyway…Trying to make this as close as possible..Location-wise…Sub Character Wise..like David Ford..I mean..x-x no one knows what he's like, right? XD WHATEVER. Just shaddap and enjoy the fanfic. I'll try to update every week! Please Read and Review! I wanna know how I'm doing. **

_**Disclaimer: **_**Resident Evil is owned by CAPCOM…not me ( I wish. D: )..and the characters that came with the game. **

**Chapter I: Oblivious**

_**September 25th, 1998 ( Liv's Apartment) 0500**_

"_Hey…Why don't you get up already?…It's almost noon! I want to go the park…I want to get Rebel outdoors so he can get used to the other dogs!.." Jody protested and shoved a hand into Liv's shoulder. She had been struggling to wake him up for over an hour already with Rebel, a pure-bred shadow german shepherd sat at her side with the leash already tucked in its mouth. It was always like this. Ever since Liv had entered the Academy, he was too exhausted on those fresh Saturdays for the both of them. Jody waited for a few seconds more, but the woman was never patient. She gave him another good shove which finally got the sleepy man to grunt in response. "C'mon, Liv! Let's go!…" She sighed with a slump of her shoulders, feeling like a defeated kid when their parents gave that famous line when they were too fatigued: "We'll go next time, kiddo…The Park isn't going to go anywhere."_

_Liv stirred and groaned with every shake and shove that came from his beloved wife until he heard the disappointment in her voice and the sudden shifting of the bed in which he __**knew**__ she slumped her shoulders in defeat. That's how the way she was and he could read her so easily. Jody was always so energetic, joyful, and always wanting to go, go, go! Liv loved that which was one of the main reasons why he had feelings for the woman in the first place. Now, things were too busy, too hectic…and the poor man was worn out by the end of the week. _

"_Alright…Alright!..I'm sorry…Just give me a few minutes, okay?…" Liv said with a sigh and finally peeled his form off of the bed, giving a decent stretch. Jody already on the attack, latched onto Liv's back and wrapped slender arms gently around his neck. His eyes closed, taking in her natural sweet scent, the feel of her breasts against his back and how much they squeezed against him with every breath. Not to mention, he loved the feel of her lips feathering against his ear when she spoke. "You're always so tired…We don't even do anything anymore…" _

_Liv sighed. She was right, but he couldn't help it. "A growing man needs his sleep!" is what his Pop always told him. Even he agreed with his pop on that one, but this was ridiculous. He hated being so exhausted and could only imagine what Jody's thought process was every weekend. "I know…I'm sorry…" he whispered in shame as he reached up to ruffle up her lovely brown locks. " I'm just…Tired, I guess. Look…How about we take Rebel to the park for a bit…Then grab some lunch…and see a movie after that, Hm?"_

_As expected, Jody began to brighten up and hugged Liv even tighter than before. "Yeah! That sounds great!…Thank you so much, babe!" She chirped happily and nestled against his shoulder. "I'm sorry if I'm a nag…" _

_Liv only chuckled and shook his head. "Don't be stupid…C'mon…let's go before I lay back down again."_

His eyes slowly opened to stare at the shadows dancing upon the ceiling and slowly drifted towards what used to be _her _side of the bed. Instead, Rebel lay there, taking up a vast majority of the bed in which forced him to toss and turn in one place. No matter how much he pushed at the dog, Rebel would just push him further and further until _he_ eventually was the one kicked off the bed. "It was just a dream…" he sighed just as the Shepherd rolled over, now being muzzle-to-face with the young man. Eyes narrowed and he'd sigh once more before the dog's pink tongue licked at his face.

After washing up and getting dressed, Liv pulled away the curtains in the living room and gazed out into the sights of Raccoon City and the darkened morning sky that loomed over them. Raccoon City, a place where people often came for vacation…A place where people thought it to be safe from the hustle and bustle of maddening cities such as New York. _A Getaway _is what people often called this place. Others sought it as one of the most popular cities thanks to the famous diners and local restaurants that made everything from scratch. For him, it was his hometown and he didn't plan on leaving it anytime soon to visit the shit-filled places that harbored some…**questionable **folk.

He was quick to finish taking in the scenery and locked onto a particular building in which he missed terribly. It was one of the largest buildings--a building that was formerly an Art Gallery back in its day: The Raccoon City Police Department. It had been more than six months since that incident…Since his suspension. Only two more weeks, and then he'd be able to wear his uniform again and strut right through the doors. Well, not exactly strut. There was a reason for his suspension and the sad part was, the entire _station_ knew about it. Liv gave an irritated sigh when he began to think about it. He'd walk in…and someone like Meyers would come up to him and give him shit about the incident. And then Ford…He hated that guy. Always wanted to play as the "good guy" of the precinct and acted as if he could do no wrong. And then that old bag at the reception -- Nevermind that. The chief…Ah, he remembered the whole ordeal with him and the chief as if it only happened yesterday. Liv couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Chief Irons when he got all upset. How his fat cheeks turned as red as apples…and how huge that vein would grow upon his forehead. Sure it wasn't funny back in his office, but looking back at it now, he began to laugh to himself that made Rebel tilt his head in confusion.

"_You're a good guy, Tremmain…A good officer…But when I see shit like this in these REPORTS…It's unacceptable! You're lucky as FUCK that the man dropped the charges! You better straighten out your SHIT before I straighten it out for YOU, Tremmain! You're suspended for seven months and you are to see the psychiatrist once a month as a mandatory visit!! I Swear if you pull off shit like this again, I will have my foot meet your ass so fast, it'll make your HEAD SPIN! Now get the fuck out of MY office!" _

And that's how it went. "My god if I poked at his head with a stick, that vein would've moved.." Liv laughed even harder until he eventually got cut off from the sudden ring of his cell phone. "Huh?...What the hell?…" he murmured while making haste to get into his bedroom. Sure enough upon the nightstand, the phone danced about upon the glass surface of his nightstand and he'd snatch it up. The little Nokia read "**D. Ford**" upon the screen. When Liv glanced at the alarm clock, it read 5 A.M. Why would anyone in the world--especially Ford, call him so early in the god-damn morning? Heaving a sigh, he answered the call.

"This is Officer Tremmain…" Spoken in a rather un-amused tone.

"Tremmain? It's David…We need you at Raccoon City Park. There's too many civilians here and not enough men to keep them behind the barricades. God, this City's gone to fuck-ville…"

_-Now?…They need me…Now? It can't be that bad, can it?…-_

"Fend them off? What do you mean?…I'm still on suspension, Ford…The Chief'll be pissed if he--"

"The chief told me to call you. Everyone else is investigating by the waste factory."

"Why's that?"

"Some teens that snuck into the waste factory claimed to have seen an injured man walking around…Looked as if he were maimed by some animal. According to them, the man was non-responsive when they tried to talk to him and apparently bit one of the girls in the group. Acting on self-defense, the girl's boyfriend assaulted him with a nearby pipe wrench. They tended to the girl, but when they checked on the man, he was gone. The police are looking for the man as we speak. Down here at the park, we've got a double homicide. A twenty-eight year old woman with her seven-year old daughter. Both were…"

Liv had to swallow a hard lump that formed in his throat before he could finish what Ford had to say. "Eaten…"

"Yeah…So hurry up. You've got thirty minutes.." David hastily said just as the screech of tires served as his background noise. "Shit! The media's here. Scratch that, Tremmain. You've got fifteen!" **Click.**

Liv stared down at his phone in surprise. That was the fifth...Sixth.,,Hell, he hadn't been to the precinct in months so by now, it could've been the tenth homicide or more! Ever since the remaining S.T.A.R.S. Team members returned from the mission in the Arklay Mountains, things have changed within a span of two months. It first started in the outskirts of Raccoon City. Hikers and Campers would go into the forests looking for a good laugh and a relaxing time, to never make it back out alive. Instead, they were carried out in black body bags and headed for the Station's downstairs Morgue. Soon, the Incidents began to happen _inside _the city. People's homes were broken into and the method of killing was the same as before; the victims were _eaten _and it wasn't the occasional wild animal who did it. The teeth marks were **human**_**.**_Then those sightings of people staggering about like corpses…

Like Zombies.

It made his spine tingle and his shoulders shudder. He couldn't bring himself to believe that these murders and sightings were the cause of _zombies_ who somehow stumbled through the screens and came "alive" in a sense to terrorize the streets of Raccoon City. The thought of it was just ridiculous! But then again, who could explain the cannibalistic murders? Who could explain the unknown DNA samples that came from blood found at the scene of the crime that stated the person should've been dead for months? And why would any of the remaining S.T.A.R.S. Members lie through their pearly white teeth and disrespect their friends who died out in the Arklay Mountains? It all made no sense to Liv…No sense at all.

"Take it one step at a time…" He told himself while snatching up his keys and heading for the door. He sure as hell won't be taking Rebel to the park anymore.


	3. Chapter II

**Author's Note: LOL so much for updating every week..I guess I'll have to say I'll update as much as I can. So sorry this chapter took so long..Rofl for people who even bother reading anyway. My birthday's coming up..yuppers! Independence day..can't wait for camping 'cause I NEED IT. Ugh..and then I can continue writing afterwards. Like I said, I'll update as much as I can! Like always, I Love Reviews!..so PLEESH! REVIEW!…and don't forget to enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Lol Resident Evil is STILL not of my creation. It all goes to capcom..except for Liv..Jody..and whoever else I make up.**

_**September 25th, 1998 ( Raccoon City Park ) 0623**_

It truly amazed Liv as to how people could be so God-Damn morbid these days. A man on T.V. could offer a hungry mother and child a million dollars and people wouldn't give a damn. The select few who would, either criticized or questioned the whole situation out of jealousy and the hate they probably had reserved for the world. Then again, if someone jumped off the roof of some ten-story building and splattered their brains out on the sidewalk, people would flock in by the numbers, armed with camera phones just so they could show the digital proof that they had been there to witness it. Yeah, awesome for them. It was a shame how the way the world worked.

"Jesus Christ…" Liv spat while holding off the civilians at bay with other fellow officers Jason Biggs and Sam 'Bulls eye' Anderson, both who didn't look to enthusiastic about waking up before the crack of dawn to be human barricades for the nosy folk.

"Why the hell're there so many people out here?! It's not like this hasn't happened before," Anderson growled in protest. Normally, the man was always in high spirits and cracking off as many jokes as he could think of. He was the good spirits of the precinct. No matter how shitty the situation had become, Anderson always managed to crack a smile on someone's face. The sad part was, that if he didn't get his daily dose of Caffeine and Nicotine, he'd bitch about everything in sight. Either that, or he'd aim straight for a kill with his tongue lashings thus, earning him the name "Bullseye" amongst his fellow co-workers and friends. When he was angry, he said words sharp enough to draw blood.

"C'mon, Bullseye, quit yer bitchin'! We all didn't get our daily dose of teeth-stainin' coffee! " Biggs retorted. Jason Biggs and Anderson were long-time partners, each serving a decent helping of five years in the grand ol' Raccoon Police Department. Their first year was considered a disaster, consisting of criminals constantly getting away from the cuffs just because the two decided to have a heated debate on how to do things. Both were equally stubborn, set in their own ways of handling things. While Anderson thought of working people through verbal confrontation, Biggs was a 'hands on' type of guy which left a few law-breakers with a bruised eye or busted lip. After six months of going downhill, the two began to discover they had a few more things in common than they thought and made a pact. Anderson would try his approach and if things didn't go well, then it was plan B. Ever since, their friendship had grown into one of the strongest bonds within the department.

However, They still had their bitch-fits.

"Look! They're leavin' already!" Biggs scoffed with a dismissive wave of his hand and finally relaxed as the numbers within the crowd began to dwindle, save for a reporter or two still filled with high hopes of catching the best footage of the day. Like hell the police would let them have their way. The Chief made it clear that no one was to give out any information to the media lest they blow things up to bigger proportions and create an even bigger panic within the city. Even if the officers were given a chance to breathe, it didn't mean that anyone was going to let anything slip.

Liv took this sign as a perfect opportunity to shake off the morning grog which left the cop victim to a hearty slap to the shoulder from the once cranky Anderson fifteen minutes later. "Ey, Ey! " Anderson quipped with an ear-to-ear grin that told practically everyone that he finally got his fix of caffeine and nicotine. Well, one of them at least. "Welcome back, Kid! I didn't think you'd be back so early! Guess you couldn't bear rotting away at home, eh?"

_-You could say that again…-_

"Yeah, I guess I couldn't. I was supposed to wait two more weeks but I guess you guys missed me too damn much." The young cop cracked a smile which only made Anderson chuckle and swat his shoulder even harder. Even if Liv grunted in response, he didn't mind the swat as much as the man's **breath**.___Ugh…_His nose wrinkled with the quickly fading smile. Just taking a wift of the Anderson's breath by mistake told him that he satisfied the morning nicotine cravings at least. It was so tempting to shove a box of Tic-Tacs in Anderson's mouth. Then again, those poor Tic-Tacs would probably scream bloody murder and be melted within a matter of seconds. Including the box. "Did I miss anything?"

Suddenly, the thirty-five year old officer took a step back and gave one of those 'You gotta be fucking kidding me' looks before chuckling and running fingers through dirty blonde spikes. "That's right…you weren't around when the S.T.A.R.S. Team came back, right? It all started two months after their return from their mission that took place in the Arklay Mountains."

Liv snapped his fingers and nodded. "I heard about that from Jason. Both Alpha and Bravo Teams got fucked over…Only Chris, Jill, Barry…" he began to trail off until Anderson cut in to finish what Liv couldn't.

"Brad and Rebecca. They were saying this…weird shit about how their team died. I bet Jason didn't tell you this part…Every S.T.A.R.S. Member said that their team members were killed by _Monsters. _Things that're only in movies, yanno?"

Now that made Liv furrow a brow. Monsters?…Out In the Arklay Mountains? Confusion quickly began to settle in. "Monsters? What do you mean, monsters?"

"Like…Zombies, man. Flesh-eating corpses that roam around, looking for something alive to chomp on? Killer crows that swarm and peck your eyes out…weird-ass humanoid-reptiles…" Anderson replied with a grin, emphasizing with arms outstretched towards Liv in that classical, zombie-like fashion and a wriggling of fingers.

"Is…that so? Well? Do you believe them?"

That made Anderson's arms drop and had him think for a moment or two, but it didn't take him long to give Liv a shake of the head. "I don't know, Liv. I mean…it sounds ridiculous! Why would those kinds of things be out there in the mountains? Why would there be some mysterious mansion harboring these things? Maybe they all were hiding drugs…or 'prolly got into some weird argument and decided to shoot at each other."

Now it was Liv's turn to shake his head. "C'mon that's stupid…Don't be an idiot."

"Ohh!?" Anderson cracked off yet another nicotine-scented laugh with solid forearms crossing over his broad chest, "Then what do you think, squirt?" He was interested in the younger cop's input and stared intently with those hard, bright blue eyes of his.

Liv's nose wrinkled at the nickname Anderson had slapped on him the first day that they met. It was during the mandatory orientation to help the new recruits navigate throughout the station that he literally bumped into Anderson, making the veteran cop spill hot coffee onto his recently dry-cleaned uniform. Anderson was sent into a rage over not only his uniform being stained, but his first cup of _coffee _of the day being spilt by a rookie _runt._ The insults began to fly, ranging from "Squirt!" to "you little shit!" until his partner, Biggs gave up his fight with the snack being stuck in the vending machine and rushed over to calm things down just as the insults were ready to evolve into shoves and fists. It took two days for Anderson to finally man-up and track down the rookie cop just to offer his sincere apologies without sounding like too much of a softie and invited Liv to the _Arklay Tavern_ for a beer or two along with his partner. After a pyramid stack of empty beer cans and some good laughs, the tension disappeared between the two and they had been friends since. However, Anderson still loved to call Liv "Squirt" and no matter how much he threatened to kick the man's ass, Anderson simply refused to let it go.

" I don't know, Bullseye. I mean…Why would S.T.A.R.S. make up bullshit like that? If they really wanted to lie? They would've thought of something better as solid cover-up. Think about it…They were all close…Why would they disrespect their friend's deaths like that? They're all good people…"

-_Yeah…better people than I'll ever be.- _

Anderson nodded in return. The man did have a point…But Anderson had only laid out the toppings. He was yet to get deeper than that. "Good point…Anyway, we can talk about that later. So like I said…They even reported a 'mysterious mansion' that they were forced to retreat to. Come to find out, everything stems down to Umbrella and some virus that brings the dead back to life. That's not all…I hear that Captain Wesker was involved with Umbrella and killed off some members…Tried to kill the survivors too!"

Liv's eyes went as wide as saucers. "No shit!" he cried out. He never admitted it to a soul, but Liv had always looked up to Wesker as some kind of role model. The man always had a cool and calm demeanor. Even if he preferred to not talk to any of the others in the precinct, his leadership skills were impressive when it came down to leading S.T.A.R.S. into any dangerous mission they dove into. That made Liv sink just a bit, but not enough to show it in front of Anderson. Hell, Anderson would say something along the lines of _"Got a bit of a crush on Wesker, eh?!" _and he'd never let Liv forget it. Putting up that façade seemed to pay off as Anderson got ready to tell more of the 'dirt' he gathered around the precinct.

"I shit you not, my friend! When the remaining S.T.A.R.S. Team returned from the mission, they didn't waste any time in trying to tell the Chief…But the scary part is, that he blew them off like measly little flies, saying that their far-fetched tales were ridiculous and dismissed them. I heard that Chris almost broke Chief's door on the way out!"

Liv nodded. " That doesn't sound like something Chris would do but…I guess given the situation, people change in a heartbeat. What happened after that?"

"What happened? The S.T.A.R.S. Team was no more! Chief made sure that their operations were closed down for good. Sure their stories were weird but…I don't think they deserved to get ridiculed like that…" Anderson shook his head disappointedly until his arm was suddenly snatched up by an angry Biggs who didn't fancy the idea of the idle chit-chat while the crowds built up again.

"Hey dipshit?! Mind helping' me out with the locals here instead of talking to Liv?! You ladies can reminisce some other time back at the station!" Biggs sent a death glare to both the cops who winced at his evident anger. Liv never seen the man so angry before in his life. Then again, times were stressful and stress itself could do a number upon a simple man with a short fuse.

Anderson sent Liv an apologetic look before he scrambled off after Biggs to contain the building crowd, letting the young cop chuckle at the sight of the partners bickering at each other on the way. That smile soon faded when his thought process began to kick into gear.

_-Really…why would they? Why would they think up of some crap like that? Unless…it was real? No, don't be stupid…things like __**that **__can't be real…Zombies..like the ones on the movies? Shambling corpses ready to devour human flesh?…and reptile things? Fuck no, that's the dumbest thing I'v--_

"It's good to see you again, Tremmain."

In the snap of a finger, those dusty gears in his head shut down and systems went on alert. Through the thoughts of his mind, that distinct voice pierced through them all like a hot knife stabbed through a slab of butter. That voice…was the only voice that got his attention and majority of the time, it was in a bad way. Liv turned to fix his sights on yet another red-head. Unlike Liv who didn't bother to slick back his hair, his opposite chose to comb it back with gel, giving a more professional look. They both were same height but unlike Liv's chocolate eyes, this one had emeralds which happened to be staring right at him. Liv feigned a smile as best as he could while extending a hand for the man to take.

"Likewise, Ford…" and the handshake was briefly made before the two let hands fall to their respective sides. Liv took the time to really take a good look at the man. Hair was slightly kept decent…however, the poor man had shadows under the eyes and not to mention a Five O' Clock shadow building upon his jaw line as well. He blinked and reached around to scratch the back of his head.

-_Jesus…he never lets himself go like that…-_

Hell, the cop even noticed a few stains upon Ford's once pristine white uniform. From the looks of it, he didn't have time to get to the cleaners. -_Probably a Febreeze spray and shake method…-_

For once, Liv actually was concerned. "Jesus, Ford…you look like shit."

Ford frowned in response and struggled to comb the oily, gelled locks back in hopes of getting the bangs away from his eyes. "Yeah, I know…Don't need to tell me twice. Things have just been…too fucking hectic. I've been working around the clock. The detectives are all over the place…and majority of us are running about like chickens with no heads. We can't even …" the officer sighed and roughly rubbed at his face.

Poor guy couldn't finish the sentence so Liv was there to partially save the day. " …find any solid evidence?"

"Y-Yeah!…That's right. None at all…There were indications that there were more than one suspect..But all of the footprints--no, _drag _marks in the dirt make it impossible to tell how many. It's as if they were all dragging their feet around…Bad legs or something. And…There was so much blood, Liv…" Ford choked on his last sentence, shaking his head before he pinched the bridge of his nose at the recollection of the past victims, "No one deserves to die like that. Not even the assholes we catch now these days…"

Liv had to admit he felt sorry for the poor guy. On the clock constantly to the point where he didn't even have time to wipe his own ass. Even if he didn't like the man, no one deserved to be weighed down by a ton of duties. "What's…exactly going on, Ford? I've seen it on the news and all but…I don't understand any of this.."

" Neither do I, Liv…Crimes have escalated ever since the Arklay incident…people have been getting sick from some flu bug going around. The hospitals are packed…" Ford sighed as his gaze drifted off to the agitated Biggs quelling down a few angry residents, "Susan's been working overtime there too…That's why Biggs is stressed. He doesn't want her catching the flu. That's the last thing that he needs; a sick wife…and the last thing that WE need is an officer staying home to take care of her."

It felt as if time had sped up a good two years while he spent those six months cooped up in his house. There was…so much that he missed in the outside world. He had a phone call or two from the guys at the precinct, but once they stopped, he wondered why that was. Now he knew why.

_And here you thought they were ignoring you…Haha, you ignorant asshole._

"Shut up.." he grumbled under his breath that definitely caught Ford's attention once more.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

Quickly realizing his mistake, Liv vigorously shook his head before scratching at the back of his head once again. "It's nothing. I didn't say anything. Wait why would that be a problem anyway? I heard that Chief rounded up thirty new recruits…and you're saying that if one takes off, then shit goes even more downhill? And I'm not complaining or anything…But what's the real reason why Chief called me back on duty?"

" Yeah, he did round up more recruits for help but that proved to be the worst move he could pull! Eleven of them suddenly called in sick, fifteen of them don't know their head from their ass…and the rest of them are the only few that we can rely on since they came from strong military backgrounds."

_God even the chief is slipping up…_

Liv merely shook his head in disappointment with arms to cross over his own chest. "Man…what is going on with this city?…"

Ford only shrugged and shook his head. "Uh-huh…Yer telling' me…"

**Clak-clak-clackity-CLANG!**

The sudden clattering and jamming of wheels immediately snagged both of the men's attention towards two others dressed in the standard issue navy blue jumpsuits with the thick yellow font spelling out "R.P.D." across their backs. The Coroner's assistants Mick and Jake began an epic struggle with the gurney's wheel that got snared in a thick root protruding from the damp soil. No matter how hard they tried to wiggle the wheel out from the root, it only agitated the two--mainly the larger dark-haired man whose face suddenly twisted with frustration towards the smaller, scrawny assistant that cowered in the man's towering shadow. "C'mon Jake just move it out from under the fuckin' root!" Mick roared with his jaw clenching shortly after. One could easily make out the veins upon his arm suddenly solidifying underneath the skin, curving about the burly man's forearms and the way his knuckles turned white from gripping the gurney so hard. Jake only cringed at Mick's vocally evident frustration and fixed his thick-framed glasses with sweaty, shaky hands. " I-I'm sorry, Mick, but this thing's really stuck!!" Jake meekly replied and tried to tug again only to fail both himself and Mick once more.

_Poor guys…_Liv thought to himself while watching the two suddenly bicker at each other. Even if they looked like polar opposites, those two were great friends and it was _rare _to see the two of them rage at each other--especially like this.

-…_What the hell..? Why not give a hand..-_

The young man left Ford to mingle with his own scrambling thoughts and nudged Jake aside, taking a hold of the gurney. For a brief moment, eyes flicked down towards the body bag, noticing how the top portion of it remained opened and how…_foul smelling _the damn thing was. It had been a while since he wafted in any essence of death, but for some reason, this stench smelled far worse than what he experienced. Why was that? The woman was killed not too long ago. Shaking the thoughts from his head, his gaze drifted up towards Mick whose face relaxed just a bit. "Long time no see, guys…Let me help you out." Liv said with a reassuring smile which relaxed Mick, but not Jake. Instead, the scrawny boy suddenly began to persist.

"N-No, Mr. Tremmain! Just let me get it out! We D-Don't need help…Really!!" Jake protested and fumbled with his glasses once again. That only deserved a sudden scoff from Mick and a shake of his head. "What're you so worried about? Liv's stronger than you and you know it. Relax!" Mick interjected with a smirk before directing his attention back to Liv who seemed damn determined to get this body carted away. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright…One…Two…"

And once again, the fight with the gurney had begun. At first, it was a simple tug and pull, but when that failed, it quickly turned into jerking it left and right, causing the body bag to constantly shift about. Little did the two know, the bag began to open further and further. The struggle continued for a good frustrating fifteen minutes until Liv gave one last pull that finally paid off. The wheel came out with a sudden "pop" which had the rest of the pent up kinetics to dig the gurney rail into Liv's gut which made the poor officer gasp in both shock and being out of breath. Eyes were quickly shut. Almost immediately he bent himself, gripping at the rails just to compose himself. Mick's eyes suddenly widened and large hands began to wave about in distress. "Ah shit, Liv! My bad! I didn't think it'd pop right out like that! I shouldn't hav…." Mick trailed and immediately froze, having his apologies quickly forgotten. Liv on the other hand, manage to catch his breath once more, but when he opened up his eyes, he almost wished he hadn't.

He would've been nose to nose with the mutilated cadaver if the nose hadn't been eaten away. Now he could easily say that he's officially looked down the nasal passages of a dead woman and all the fleshy tissues still connected to the bone. Eyes traveled now to where the mouth was contorted into a twisted scream, having the lower jaw favoring more to the right in a rather disturbing, abnormal angle. Lips were chewed--no, _torn _away from her face. Her left cheek was eaten away as well, having only stringers of muscle and untouched tissue flapping in the crisp morning breeze.

_-Look away, Liv…-_

But he couldn't. His eyes traced over her pasty white skin and drifted up towards the dead woman's cataracted gaze. The right eye was gone, having only the soupy off-white contents filling the socket. The left eye however remained untouched, allowing it to glaze and yellow over. He stared right into the dark iris, barely making out the pupil that had shrunk down to nothing but a pinpoint.

_-She must've been terrified…No one deserves to die like this…Ford was right…-_

The woman had to have been gorgeous. Long, dark brown locks were now matted to the woman's skull, barely covering up the patches of both hair and scalp that were ripped from her head in her struggle to survive. He could easily make out the bloody ivory now exposed. However, his gaze was quick to return to her eye. Closer he leaned until the eye suddenly snapped upwards to disappear under the socket. Liv gasped and felt his heart skip a few beats. He couldn't stop staring until Ford suddenly tackled him away from the cadaver. "Liv! Are you alright?" Ford asked, his voice tainted with deep concern as he shook the young officer's shoulders to bring him back to reality. Liv on the other hand, took some time to finally tune back in, giving Ford a far-off gaze and a slow nod of his head. Seeing that Liv wouldn't have a mental breakdown from that unfortunate encounter, tore his attention towards the two assistants, his glare sending daggers towards them as he approached.

"What the hell, guys!? Don't you two have the god-damn decency to zip that bag up!? It's bad enough that we have to deal with these killings AND the media!!" Ford roared at the two. Mick at first had his attention upon Jake, but when Ford came, hands were quick to rise, shielding himself from the furious man. "Hey, hey! I didn't know the damn thing was still broken. JAKE over here," said with a sudden punch to Jake's bony shoulder, "said that he fixed it! Look, it's a mistake, man…It hasn't been easy for us in the morgue too, yanno!? We ran out of body bags and this was the last one we had!" Mick protested for himself and his scrawny friend who shook like a leaf while trying to close up the bag. Ford only sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay..Okay… I Know. I'm sorry, but just…make sure that thing is securely closed….and be quick about getting it out of here."

With the argument settled, the assistants gave their respected nods and secured the body bag like asked and quickly carted the victim away, loading it into the van without any questions asked. Ford soon returned to the shell-shocked Liv and gave the man a pat on the shoulder. "Hey…Are you gonna be okay? I'm sorry you had to see that…" he said with much concern mixed well in his voice. Liv on the other hand, wiped at his face in a poor attempt to scrub that image out of his face. Great, another vision he'd do better without remembering it. "I'll be fine…Jesus…" Liv replied and put a palm to his forehead, "I…I didn't know it'd be that bad…I don't know…I didn't know what to make of it when it was on the news…"

"It's okay. It's a lot to suck in…But yeah, it's that bad. Just be glad you didn't see the other victims..Say, I don't mean to bother you with this, but I need a favor.."

"Yeah…What is it?"

"Mick and Jake are heading down to the hospital…The morgue at the precinct is full and…The media's gonna swarm in when they know…"

Liv didn't need to hear the rest. It was only obvious as to what Ford was going to ask.

" Yeah, I know…I'll go with them."

The ride to the hospital felt more like a journey to another country. Traffic was slow as always. Minutes seemed to turn into hours and Liv was quick to grow impatient. The radio had been silenced a while back when all the radio stations had aired commercials, crappy hip-hip music, or country music dashed with a little Johnny Cash into it. Eyes trailed down to the radio every so often. Its silence tempted him to turn it back on and surf through the stations in hopes of something decent, but his hands remained on the wheel. Besides…

_-I hate Johnny Cash…-_

He wished there was some decent music to calm his nerves. The silence simply tormented him, leaving him to his now troubled thoughts and horrid images of the cadaver who now had a free ride in the coroner's van before him. Who would do something like that? Who would even want to **eat **another human being? It was simply beyond him as to what reasons there were. Just the image of the cadaver's eaten face made hot bile travel up his throat, forcing him to swallow it back down. Then his thoughts came to the eye…The eye that suddenly snapped upward on its own.

_-It had to be some kind of reflex, right?…Maybe a maggot got a hold of the eye underneath….Or maybe I'm just fucking with myself…Yeah…-_

Even if he reassured himself, his mind weighed heavily on doubt, worry, and fear. He had never been so scared in his life. The time where he ran from a Doberman for his life when he was twelve, was **nothing **compared to this. The sight of that cadaver had topped everything that made him jump out of his skin.

_-What if…the survivors were right? What if…there were…-_

_-Stop it.- _

Knuckles turned white and leather groaned in protest under his grip upon the wheel. "That's stupid…There's no such thing as zombies…" he reassured himself with a firm nod. He was about to get his confidence back until the little nokia sprung to life in his cup holder, dancing about with the midi tune of "The Ring of Fire" from Johnny Cash. It startled him enough to drift his attention from the road and down to the phone. He sneered at it before snatching it up. Upon the scratched screen read:

"**Babes"**

_-That's right…I didn't change it…FUCK.- _

Eyes eventually looked up just in time to slam on the brakes, screeching the car to a sudden stop just inches from the van before it. The sudden stop had angry honks and curses from the soccer mom behind him. Bah, he could care less. Right now, it puzzled him as to why of all people, would _she _call. For a moment, he contemplated on letting the phone ring. Then it'd get sent straight to his…

_-My voicemail's full…-_

"FUCK."

He finally answered the phone.

"Hello?"

A meek, sweet voice permeated through the awkward silence, a voice he would've missed under different circumstances. "Hi, Liv. It's Jody…How're you?"

Liv's jaw suddenly clenched. The old _How're you doing _conversation was something that Liv wasn't in the mood for. He had better things to worry about then trying to strike up a conversation with someone who he didn't wish to see for now.

"Peachy…What did you want? I'm working."

"…Nothing really. It's been a while and…I haven't called you since…You know. I just wanted to know if you were okay."

"I'm fine, Jody."

"Wait a minute…I thought you were still suspended?"

"The Chief decided to change his mind. There's a lot of shit going on and people're running around like chickens without heads."

"Oh…I see. I'm glad you at least get to go back to--"

"Does James know that you're calling me?"

Liv knew off the bat that Jody winced at his sudden question, but nevertheless, Jody replied. "No…He doesn't and he doesn't have to know either. He's not my dad, you know."

"Yeah, you're right. That would've been creepy."

"Hah…Very funny."

At last, the hospital was within his sights when the van finally turned into the Hospital lot, letting Liv take in both the view of Raccoon Hospital and the nasty mass of media that either fought amongst each other, or decided to film their first takes in front of the doors. The moment the van turned to go down the side alley to take a more concealed way into the hospital, the mass suddenly flocked towards the van like kids going for an ice cream truck.

"Shit…Jody, I gotta go. I'm already at the hospital."

"The hospital? Liv, wait…I'm at the--"

But before she could say anything, Liv ended the call. Little did Liv know, he was going to have to fight off more than just the media.


	4. Chapter III

**Author's Note: well fucking hell! That was a long ass block and I'm so sorry for people who were waiting for this chapter to come out! I've just been so busy..stressed..you know, the usual! Hah! Well anyway, here's the next chapter that I managed to pull out from my skull. I hope you all enjoy it and please review! I wanna know how this goes. Got suggestions? Give 'em up! No flames though. Don't wanna get cooked! **

**P.S.: Oh yeah! I wanted to thank Cjjs for both letting me use one of his characters (that'll show up soon!) and for supporting me on this fanfic. Also Mr. Sinestro and Umbrella's Worst Enemy for giving me some good input. I'm so tired…**

**Chapter III: Welcome to Hell**

At first, Liv didn't think he'd actually survive attempting to push through the media. It felt so surprisingly…suffocating in the thickened crowd of people, cameras, and the dangling microphones that occasionally brushed his face while pushing through them all. It wasn't easy getting both him and the assistants into the hospital, but after the epic struggle and passing through the automated sliding doors, it was done with them well on their way down to the morgue. The trio of men took the next available elevator down to the basement level of the hospital. At first, it felt awkward for the three men and a corpse to ride in silence, only to be accompanied by the overly-pleasant Jazz played over the speakers. This day had to have sucked. First thing in the morning, he had to fight off the nosy public…Then he was literally face to face with a chewed up cadaver that he just so happened to be standing next to. After that, he had to fight off the media that surrounded the three as if they were the walking plague themselves. Last but not least, he now stood with a six-foot giant, a scrawny nerd with coke-bottle glasses and a mean stutter. Oh, and he couldn't forget the corpse in the body bag. For a moment, eyes shifted down to the tied up bag and reflected upon the half-eaten face that he had literally come so close to as Ford's cracking voice played over in his mind.

_-No one deserves to die like that…-_

He suddenly chewed upon his lower lip and fidgeted in place. Just looking at the damn bag gave him the chills. Nevertheless, his eyes traced the contours and wrinkles of the bag until it he could've sworn the damn thing was moving. Was it moving?...Or was it the lights that were playing tricks on him? Nevertheless, eyes widened and before he knew it, a loud gasp left his lips. Did the body just…move? Or did he want it to move just because he refused to believe that he was "seeing things"? Either way, he missed the fact that he actually flinched and flattened himself against the cold wall. Mick and Jake easily took notice, but it was Mick who quickly reached over and took Liv's shoulder in a tight squeeze to somewhat bring the poor man back to reality.

"Hey man, are you alright?" Mick asked, his voice laced with deep concerns. He couldn't blame the young officer at all. The very first victim that Mick and Jake had come across gave Mick nightmares for two weeks while Jake managed to puke out breakfast, lunch, and possibly the frozen T.V. dinner he had the night before. After that, it felt damn near like a normal thing to see someone's face chewed away.

Liv whose eyes were wide with terror, shifted between Mick, Jake, and the body bag. "That…It just…" he soon trailed off when it seemed almost impossible to even put a valid sentence together. Breathing that was more like hyperventilating, soon slowed into an even pace that finally had him calm himself and tore his gaze away from the body bag that he swore had shifted before his very eyes. "It's nothing…I..Guess I can't shake it off..You know?" he said with a weary smile while brushing away Mick's loosening grip. "Yeah, I know what ya mean, buddy. This started a month ago and we still can't brush this off like another murder case." Mick replied while offering a chuckle that was most likely an attempt to comfort himself, "Don't feel bad about it or anything…At least you took it better than Jakey-boy here. Haha, I swear he must've purged two days worth of meals in the bushes!" The two began to laugh while poor Jake stuttered and stumbled over his words before sending glares their way.

After a good laugh that permeated through the awkward elevator music, the doors finally opened and the men were well on their way down a narrow hallway towards the morgue. Liv's eyes trailed about the whitewashed walls that felt as if they were closing in on him. Soon, the gears of his imagination began to turn as he imagined himself being escorted down to the morgue by a few blabbering employees who discussed about what they had for lunch…

But before Liv's thoughts could go any deeper, Mick pushed the gurney through the automated double-doors which welcomed a chilling breeze to waft into their faces…and something else. He groaned and held up a hand to his face. The morgue was normally a clean-smelling place besides the slight scent of chemicals…but now it stank of decay and other scents that Liv didn't even want to investigate. Normally he didn't mind morgues…But this time, something was eating away at him, begging him to get the hell out of there as fast as he could.

Jake was the second to bring hands to his face and hold back the gags that could possibly have him retching yet another lunch. "A-A-And I thought last time was b-bad!…" Jake whined with tears literally building up from the retched stench. And liv thought he was bad..

"Where's the doc anyway?! H-He said he was gonna be here."

"Good question. The Doc's pretty anal when it comes to being on time," Mick grunted with a crackling of knuckles as he took a good look around the morgue. Indeed something was amiss. Not only Dr. Ferguson was missing, but his tools were scattered haphazardly upon the counter. The man was a very tidy person-- the type to even keep all the labels of his bottles facing outward, the tools arranged by use, and would often blow a fuse when people were five minutes late in delivering a body. "And we're ten minutes late. You'd think we'd get another verbal ass-whoopin'."

Liv only watched the two men as they searched for the missing doctor with Jake being the first to move from the small group. He made his way around the observation table until he suddenly slipped and fell hard upon the cold floor with more of a shriek rather than a scream. Liv and Mick were quick to come to the man's rescue, but suddenly froze at the sight of Jake and exactly what he was covered in; blood. The poor boy's glasses bounced off his face and dropped into the pool he just so happened to be now scrambling upon in a poor attempt to get back onto his feet. While Mick scooped up the blood soaked assistant, Liv had finally taken in the scene before them. A thick trail of blood led towards the doctor's small office where broken bottles lay strewn about, decorating the once sterilized floors along with other various tools, knocked over trays and other instruments that Liv couldn't even identify to save his own life. Eyes eventually caught sight of the office door ajar and keen ears picked up the sound of crunching_. _

_-What the hell is going on…?- _

Mick seemed pretty accurate on reading the thoughts displayed upon Liv's face--especially when the young officer directed his focus upon the office. The massive man gulped and kept hands upon his scrawny friend's shoulders. "Hey Liv…you don't think Dr. Ferguson's…"

"I don't know," Liv sharply replied while drawing out his beloved SIG P226 from the shoulder holster hidden within his jacket, "But you two should stay here…" Once again, that knot in his stomach began to tighten along with a lump in his throat that was rather difficult to swallow down. Leaving them behind, the young officer took cautioned steps beside the blood trail. Instincts were on and the safety was definitely off. Something went wrong here…horribly wrong…Someone was hurt bad--no, someone was _killed _here. No way in hell someone would survive with practically ninety-five percent of their blood being spilt onto the floor.

_-Whoever did this was…pretty messy…-_ He idly thought to himself as his free hand quickly retracted from the blood-smeared doorknob. Instead, he nudged the door opened that made that nerve-racking _**squeeeeeak**_upon rusty hinges. Upon entering, the first thing anyone would do is flip on the lights…But in Liv's case, a flip of the lights didn't do him any good considering…

**Crunch. **

The feel of delicate glass crunching under his boot was enough to tell him that the lights were broken. The only light he had now was the overhead lighting that stretched as far as the opened door allowed into the dark room. -_Screw that.- _Thank god he filled up his torch with fresh batteries this morning before he left for Raccoon City Park. With a click of the torch, the first thing it illuminated was the large red oak desk and a bobbing mass of matted blonde locks that were clotted with…blood. Gulp.

"Dr. Ferguson?…." Liv replied with a slight crack in his voice as he slowly made his way around the table, keeping the torch lit upon the bobbing head. The crunching sound from before had only grown louder and louder and only reminded him of those grisly cannibalistic murders. What if…whomever this was…was one of those cannibal killers?…Nevermind that. He tried to shake the thoughts from his head until something upon the ground caught his eye; a fresh rivulet of blood that congregated at the toe of his boot. Finally swallowing that lump in his throat, he slowly directed the torch from his boot…up the rivulet of blood…and upon the figure hunched over another. The figure's once pristine white lab coat was now torn and stained with blotches of fresh blood. The figure kept hunching over the body upon the floor as if….

_-The body…He's..EATING THE OTHER BODY…-_

Now Liv couldn't find the will to speak as he gawked at such a horrid sight. God…he could see the doctor's blood-drenched hand dipping into the body's abdomen and pull out a slippery length of intestine and stuff it hungrily into his mouth. Hot bile began to build up in his throat once again and this time it took all of his might to keep himself from retching his guts out on the spot. Before Liv could speak, the figure suddenly dropped the rest of the uneaten intestine and slowly turned towards the baffled police officer. Sure enough, the man was Dr. Ferguson…But the mind blowing part of it all was the fact that he himself looked just like the victim from Raccoon City Park. A portion of his cheek had been chewed away to expose yellowed teeth beneath. Clumps of hair had been ripped out in what Liv figured to be the result of a struggle between him and _something _that chewed on his face. "Dr…Ferguson…" Liv muttered before he roughly shook his head. What was he doing!? -_Man up, Tremmain and take him down!- _The sudden thought had his courage boost up a few points despite how terrifying the man's wounds seemed to be and the fact that he was actually _eating _someone's intestines.

Ferguson only replied with a guttural moan and suddenly rose to his feet, leaving Liv with a better view of his 'meal'. It looked like one of those male nurses that he often saw running about upstairs in the hallways, but this one was prone…and was dead. **Very** dead. Ferguson on the other hand, began to shuffle towards the officer, having his head literally resting upon his right shoulder thanks to the lack of supporting muscles that were torn away from his neck. Blood drenched the man's white dress shirt and soaked into the black tie. Another decent sized chunk of flesh was ripped away from the collarbone as well which contributed to changing his shirt into a more 'vibrant' red color.

_-Is that actually…bone I see?!…-_

Thoughts began to scramble up like eggs in a beater before he mustered up a solid "Freeze!" in attempt to keep some bit of authority over the shambling man, but it only fell upon deaf ears as the man continued to close the distance between himself and the officer. The office was only so small and Liv only had a few seconds before the man had enough reach to try and make a grab for him. Teeth clenched and his aim shifted down towards the Doctor's leg and squeezed off a round into his thigh. Liv was shocked…It wasn't the fact that he actually fired his gun…it was because of the man's reaction. There was only a spurt of blood when the bullet punched into his leg. Normally people would crumble where they stood, hold their injury and scream like little bitches with threats in between about how they were going to sue the department. This man however, only jerked to the punch of the bullet and outstretched his bony fingers out towards the officer.

_-What the fu-- _Two rounds went for the chest, but not even that seemed to make the man botch an eyelid. Retched fingertips grazed his sleeve which sent Liv into a mad panic and had him squeeze off an additional three wildshots. Two more in the chest and one through-on-through to the neck. Blood sprayed out the back along with fragments of spine. The man uttered his last moan before collapsing into a dead heap before Liv's feet. "What…The..Fuck…" Liv spat between panicked breaths. What the hell just happened? Those shots should've been fatal. The man should've been on the floor the moment a round punched into his thigh in the first place so…Why didn't it happen!?

**BANG..BANG…BANG…**The noises grew louder from outside the office. What was it this time? Before he got a chance to recollect himself, a struggle was heard and a shrill cry that sounded all too familiar.

_-Jake!- _

The officer nearly slipped on the slick blood smeared floors before hopping over the corpse and flew through the door that had him sprinting for the assistants. By the time Liv arrived, the very body that they brought in had somehow come back to life and had it's pearly whites latched onto the crook of Jake's neck. Blood began to spew and flesh was heard being crunched. No matter how loud Mick screamed or how hard he pulled at the corpse, it only chewed deeper into Jake's flesh. "GET OFF'A HIM!" Mick screamed and suddenly swung the back of his fist that connected with the corpse's temple, knocking the it right off the gurney and rolling onto the table. The portion of flesh it claimed was taken along with it, having Jake's neck spew blood like a makeshift water fountain. The young boy's legs grew weak and eyes rolled to the back of his head while hands made a poor attempt to cover his wound. They didn't see it coming…They both didn't think that _thing _would come back to life and…

"JAKE, HOLD ON!" Mick's voice boomed as solid arms caught the limp boy, but as Mick was about to lift Jake into his arms, one of the individual freezer doors positioned just above him flew open and made a solid connection with his forehead, forcing him to drop Jake and stumble back into the shelves behind him. Liv skidded to a stop and watched in horror as one by one, the freezer doors began to pop open with corpses crawling out like worms from dirt. Each one spilled out from their box and dropped onto the ground, some with sickening _splats _while others landed upon their heads, breaking their necks in an instant. One of them got lucky enough to drop right onto Jake whose eyes widened in fear behind those coke-bottle glasses. Mick was dazed and Liv couldn't shoot the one on top of him in fear of hitting Jake as well.

_Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!_

Both of the men watched as the corpse latched onto the other side of Jake's neck and crunched down while the others crawled to join the party. Two at one leg…three on the other…two eating away at his torso…It was the worst way to die. Both Liv and Mick would never forget the sheer terror plastered upon Jake Steven's face and the tortured, but silent scream his lips uttered before the light dimmed from his eyes. Feet were unwilling to move, but Liv's instincts kicked in once again and surge pure adrenaline through his veins. First thoughts? Get the fuck out of here, evacuate the hospital, and call for backup…No, call the fucking army! His heart raced as feet finally managed to move and he was quick to bolt around towards the other side of the observation tables and yank the shocked assistant up to his feet. "C'MON we gotta get the fuck outta here!!" Liv cried out as the burly man rose to his feet only to still have eyes glued to the 'feast' that was once his best friend, " If we stay here, we'll end up just like him..C'mon there's nothing we can do!!"

It seemed like words only fell upon deaf ears for a moment before Mick snapped back to reality. Perhaps it was some of the blood that trickled down from the cut upon his forehead almost got into his eye that got him back to reality or the realization that they could possibly be next in line. Whatever it was, got the assistant bolting through the automated doors with Liv right at his heels. The hallway didn't seem so long when they were first walking through, but now as the two sprinted, it felt as if the hallway stretched on and on with them getting absolutely nowhere. Already, the cadavers were on the hunt for them and passed through the same double doors, having their groans and moans echo down the hallway for the two to hear. Shivers traveled down Liv's spine as fingers impatiently rapped upon the elevator button. Mick was already sweating bullets. Of all elevators in the hospital, this one always took the longest even though it's only destinations were the lobby and the Morgue. Mick and Jake always complained about how the elevator needed a fixing, but nothing was ever done about it. Now they were sitting ducks and resting their hands upon the very elevator that always loved to take it's sweet-ass time.

"FUCK! Can't that thing go any faster!?" Liv growled while keeping his eye upon the numbers that steadily began to build within the hallway. Seemed like they were done feasting on Jake now.

"I…It'll come, Liv. Just..hang tight." Mick replied between heavy breaths as he looked over to the group of corpses making their shambling way towards them. He didn't dare tell Liv about the problem with this elevator. Why spook the only man with a gun? Hell, Liv could be the type to shoot him as a mercy kill and then take out himself. No, that wasn't the thing to think about now. Instead, he kept his gaze upon the cadavers and their papery-white skin, the flesh that often rotted and dropped off their bodies, the horrific injuries that killed them. Impossible…No such thing could come back from the dead--especially humans. When they brought those corpses in, they were dead. Dead. **Very **dead.

Seconds ticked by and the distance between the two and the army of the undead began to close at an alarming rate. The groans and moans were overpowered by Liv's SIGP226 as each round slammed into the thicket of corpses. Chest shots, limb shots…None of them seemed to work and if he kept up with body shots, Liv knew well he'd be out of ammo and the both of them would be fucked just like Jake. With the eighteen rounds gone from his clip, the slide hammered back and locked into place. The gun needed a feeding and Liv was quick to eject and slap a new clip into it. The slide shot forward and Liv was locked and loaded. Suddenly, he recalled the moment between him and Dr. Ferguson. Body shots didn't work at all..But when he chipped away the exposed spine, Dr. Ferguson dropped like a rock and didn't move since. If body shots didn't work then…

**Bang, bang! **

Two shots were delivered into two different entities. One just above the right brow upon one corpse, and the other was a straight shot between the eyes. Both of them collapsed in a dead heap for others to trip over and fall onto their rotting faces.

_-That's it!…-_

Even so, it wasn't going to be easy. Already, six of them were almost within arms reach until…

**Ding! **

The elevator doors opened and both of the men screamed at each other to get inside with Mick hammering away at the 'close door' button and Liv taking another two shots before a rotting hand shot forth through the closing doors to snatch Liv by the collar of his jacket. The officer screamed and instantly struggled to free himself from the deathly grasp until Mick suddenly snatched the forearm and bent the limb the opposite way, causing the limb to _snap. _Liv suddenly cried out and threw himself back against the wall, taking the rest of that limb with him before the doors completely closed. Both men had broken out into a clammy sweat and sucked in as much air as they could into their lungs. The red head at first was completely unaware of the appendage until the stump nudged his stomach. His gaze was directed down towards the limb and for a second or two, he didn't seem to register that hand was _still _gripping his jacket. "GAH!" he cried out and even wiggled in place before hands hesitantly grabbed onto the forearm and yanked the dead hand free. With that tossed aside, eyes directed themselves to Mick who only gave Liv a "What the fuck just happened" look on his face. An awkward moment hovered over the two men as the classical elevator music aired over the speakers once again…But to break the silence this time, Liv grunted with a point towards the limb and a pat to the man's muscular shoulder. "Ah…Um…Thanks…"

"Don't mention it."

The elevator doors finally opened and the men scrambled out to only find out that the hospital itself had gotten busier. And worse, the staff began to grow ill themselves. Nurses were complaining of the patients "biting" them whenever they got close. Others just seemed worse for wear, and the number of patients were unbelievable. The seats were filled and many stood about the hospital, often getting into the way of the works to only be pushed aside or told they needed to wait. To put it short, the hospital was a bloody mess…and they had an even bloodier mess down in the morgue. As the nurses and doctor's passed by, both Liv and Mick went to anyone in attempt to get their attention, but was only brushed off as they hurried away to tend to their next patient. As they frantically scrambled to capture someone's attention, Liv heard a certain voice he really wished he didn't hear. That voice that used to make his heart melt…That sweet voice that now made his teeth clench…The only voice that always captured his attention, no matter who was around him.

"Liv! You shouldn't be here!"

Even if he harbored his grudge against her for what she did, it still made his heart sink knowing that she was HERE amongst the mess. Knowing that she was in complete danger had his veins pumped once more. With a spin upon heels, he caught sight of her adorned in the Hospital's navy blue nurse scrubs they were required to wear. His image was captured in those lovely, honey hazel hues that he used to adore. Rich ebony locks were tied up haphazardly with a couple of sturdy hairpins and a No.2 pencil stabbed through it. There she was, with a clipboard tucked under her arm and giving him the most worried gaze he's ever seen on her face.

_-She looks so cute..Wait--_

So that's what she was trying to tell him. Hell, he knew she was a medical student, but he never knew that she had already become a nurse within the span of six months that he spent rotting in his apartment. Time flew by so fast…

Thoughts were shaken from his head as he approached Jody and immediately snatched her up by the arm, earning him a baffled look from Mick and a sudden gasp from Jody herself. "C'mon, Jody we have to get the hell out of here and back to the station." he said while doing the best he could to calm himself down until she ripped her arm out of his gloved grasp. That little stunt had earned him a bewildered look from Jody before it quickly turned into a glare as if she were shocked that he thought he had the right to touch her. "What the hell, Liv? I can't! Don't you see this place!? These people need our help! I can't just run away because you said so!" She quipped and widened the distance between them, turning her attention towards the obvious cut upon Mick's forehead, "What the hell happened to your head?"

That did nothing but piss Liv off even more. The man was already on a short fuse and here she was snapping at him. Normally it took a while before he'd start to yell but this time…

"Jody, we don't have fucking time for this! Mick and I just got back from the morgue and--"

As if right on que, a blood curling scream pierced throughout the lobby that stopped everyone in their tracks with other screams to shortly follow. The three turned just in time to see one of the sick patients suddenly turn on a nurse and latched teeth right onto her cheek. The poor woman screamed and screamed bloody murder as two doctors came to pull away the deranged man from his savage attack. Tendrils of skin and muscle were stretched until they were torn at the limit and literally away from the woman's face, leaving a decent sized _hole _for everyone to see just which molars she got capped.

_-Oh god…Not here too…-_

Oh no, he wasn't going to fight with Jody today. Instead, he took her roughly by the wrist and jerked her his way with Mick tailing behind the two. "See what I mean? We're getting--"

"Liv, we can't! James is here too! He's on the seventh floor and I can't leave him here!.."

_-Great…fucking great…-_

The wrench thrown into his plan was so big, that he actually stopped in his tracks. Only a turn to the left, and they could get into the van and get back to the station within a span of ten minutes…But then again, that'd be wrong without James. Then again, he felt he had the fucking right to leave him here to be eaten and rot in his room since the man had snuck into his life and destroyed everything he had. God-damnit… That mother fucker always threw some kind of wrench into his plans. Hell, it even tempted him to just say fuck-it and leave his ass here but…

Fuck it. He made a sharp U-Turn and hauled ass for the elevators. Suddenly, another scream ensued when others stumbled through the entrance, riddled with bites and chunks of flesh missing from their bodies. Liv did his best to ignore the pleas and cries as the elevator opened up. Time to go.

* * *

Liv knew he'd forever hate elevator music and promised himself that should he live through this shit-fest, that he'd shoot out every speaker in any elevator he'd walk into so he could enjoy the silence. This time, he recognized the tune as "Oh Happy Days" which made his grip upon the gun tighten. He was tempted to shoot out the box now but…conserving ammo seemed like a smarter idea. As he took the longest elevator ride of his life, the power suddenly shut down right when they were about to reach the seventh floor. Luckily for them, they managed to get each other through the escape hatch and on top of the elevator itself. Not to mention, should they be a floor lower, they'd be forced to take the stairs. No, it wasn't hard but…Liv preferred not to. Using Mick as a leverage, Liv climbed on top of the man's burly shoulders and managed to pry the elevator doors little by little until the gap was enough to escort Jody first after her big climb. Next came Liv and…Mick was the toughest one to haul. The seventh floor was dark…and gave off an eerie silence. Not the beep of a monitor, the commotion of people normally walking about. Hell, there was not a soul in sight--only papers scattered about the narrow hallways.

-_All this for the very guy who took Jody away…What the fuck am I getting myself into?- _

With a deep breath, Liv calmed himself once more and readied his gun for anything that should come their way. He'd protect both Mick and Jody…No matter what.

"Well guys and gals…Here it goes."


	5. Chapter IV

**Author's Note: HOLY SHIT. So once again…I haven't updated in months. My GOD…I've been mad busy (especially since it's the holidays!) and I've been struggling with finding the time to write this chapter and…TRYING to figure out what to put in this chapter. So…Consider this a "merry Christmas" gift from me, kay? Rofl. Imma try to get out the next chapter as fast as I can…( rofl you guys prolly think I'm lying…anyway)…ENJOY!**

" So where's this 'James' at? I don't wanna stick around for the 'feast' that's about to happen really soon," Mick questioned as they made their way through the whitewashed hallways with curious eyes to wander about towards each door. There were a total of twelve doors; six on each side. For now, they all were locked…but why? That was something Mick already began to question to himself. Problem was, he didn't think he'd want the answer. Eventually his gaze landed upon the small nurse who lead the group for now. Seemed like she knew where she was going…If she did, they could pick up this asshole and head out as fast as they could. Down the stairs anyway.

"He's in room 732. We're not that far from it. James was hit by a car on his way to work. He only has a fracture in his hand, a few bruises, and a concussion so we decided to keep him overnight for observation," the small raven-haired woman replied while detouring the group to a left turn, "…Seems like a bad idea now."

Liv said nothing, only keeping on alert for whatever could turn around the same corner as they, so Mick continued what little conversation they had with the small female. "Why're these doors locked anyway? I mean, aren't they supposed to be open?" Yes, it was an odd question, but it was just one of those little things that Mick so happened to pick up on. True, they all were closed. He had even tried one on the way, but the bugger was locked. Why would the staff keep their patients locked up? What if one of them needed help and doctors and nurses were forced to ream through a set of keys just to get them? The locks looked new…

Jody cringed. She hoped that the men wouldn't notice the locks…But they were more observant than she thought. Well, Mick was anyway. With a bite of her lip and a fiddle with a fingernail, she calmly replied the best she could, "This floor…is where majority of the patients who were sick. We noticed that after a few minutes or…hours, they grow hostile and try to attack anything that gets in their way. So…we ended up installing cameras in the rooms so we could carefully monitor each patient without having the risk of getting attacked by surprise the moment we open the--"

"--Just wait a goddamn minute." Liv interjected and stopped in his tracks, having Mick suddenly bump into him. Jody stopped as well, turning to the red head who began to fume to the point where she could've sworn she saw steam rise from the top of his fiery head. " You mean to tell me that we're in a quarantine section? That should any of these fuckers somehow bust through these doors, we're stuck in the middle of them all?"

"Yes."

"And exactly WHY did you people decide to stick him on this floor?"

Now…Jody didn't appreciate this. There was one thing about Liv that hadn't changed, and that was his immaturity. Knuckles were placed upon each hip, her face now twisted with slight irritation. "That's because the rooms were _full _on the lower floors. Besides, you saw for yourself, downstairs is nothing but a giant petri dish! This is one of the only floors that are more sterilized than the rest!" Jody continued even when Liv's eyes widened just a bit at her retort, "When these patients came in, they were too weak to get out of bed. There's no way possible that they could get through these doors." She paused in between, having the irritation brew inside as she bristled and continued on. "You don't have to come with me you know. I know how much you hate James…But that's not gonna stop me from getting him out of this place." She hated being so forward with Liv, but now wasn't the time to argue. Not wanting to waste anymore time nor wanting to hear his response, she turned upon heels and started down the hallway again, disappearing around the left corner.

Naturally, this left Liv speechless and Mick looking between the two of them in both discomfort and silence. Damn, did she have a tongue now and he did have to admit that what she said was true…he did hate James. He hated that man with a passion but to him, those reasons were good ones. Fingers curled into his free hand and tightened to where knuckles grew white. Anger began to boil up inside of him…But who could he lash it out on? Sure as hell couldn't be Mick because the poor man didn't do anything. He couldn't rage on Jody because she was only doing her job and trying to save someone who she.._cared _for. All he could do was grit his teeth and follow Jody with Mick tailing behind him.

Jody obviously didn't stray too far. She stood there rooted to the ground, facing the windows with a look of horror etched onto her face. The scene below them was literally something ripped from a cheap black and white horror movie, and pasted over her reality that she had worked so hard for. The once busy, clean sidewalks and streets were now nothing more than a battleground. Cars were scattered about the asphalt, smashed or piled up in twisted wrecks of metal that burned over the fumes of spilt gasoline. Hazel hues wandered over the sight of figures scattered about as well. Some bodies were even trapped within the cars…or underneath. The scary part was, that even if the situation they were in SHOULD have killed them, those people were still moving, still writhing and clawing away at the streets with chipped fingernails. There were even more of them standing around, wobbling in place as others congregated by the geyser of water erupting from the broken fire hydrant across the street. Then there came one that walked under the street light and Jody's jaw nearly hit the ground. The graying skin…The horrid injuries…The blood splattered upon shredded clothes that draped upon their rotting shoulders…They looked just like the patients that now shuffled freely about in the lobby and perhaps the lower levels.

This horror movie blended right into her reality and quickly destroyed everything she had worked so hard for. No matter where she went, she realized she wouldn't be safe. She couldn't go back to her home, lock up the doors and curl up into the security of her bed and shut her eyes just so she could wake up later during the night and conclude that everything she saw was nothing more than a nightmare. She couldn't do anything…

She didn't even hear Liv call out her name as tears quickly began to build. She was beyond terrified…She didn't want to become one of those "things" out there..What if James were one of them? What if she became…

"Jody!"

Shoulders flinched and the nurse quickly turned her bewildered gaze towards Liv, having tears finally rolling down her cheeks after what seemed to be a lifetime staring at the hell that literally came down to earth. Her anger against him was quickly forgotten the moment she stared out the windows. She wished that she were oblivious to the scene…and stayed mad at Liv while she went to go get James. Hell, that would've been easier to deal with instead of watching these things roam about outside.

Any genius could tell that she was terrified. The wild look in her glittering eyes, the way her body trembled and still continued to tremble as he suddenly took her into the warmth of his arms. She was terrified…and here he was, being an idiot and pissing her off at one of the worst times possible. As she shook in his arms, he tightened his embrace on her, almost forgetting that Mick was nervously looking around in their moment of comfort.

"Jody…" he sighed, "I'm sorry…Just…Don't look…Stay with me…and we'll find James together, alright?" Even if she had done wrong to him six months ago, he hated to see her so shaken up like this. Holding her like this suddenly had him reflect in their past. Whenever she was frustrated, angry or sad about some even that happened in her day, he'd always sit her down and wrap his arms around her. He'd always tell her that things would be okay--that she'd pull through no matter what happened and that he'd always be there for her. Old habits die hard, right? This one wasn't going to die anytime soon…

And Jody knew this as she buried her face into his thin white shirt, soaking that very portion that she had often done on numerous occasions. She would cry her heart out-- even beat at his chest with her "Fists of Fury" until she'd tire herself out and idly wonder just what detergent he had used for the week. Even if she were angry with him as he held her, he'd hold way too tight for her to simply pull away. She couldn't forget the way he formed his words when he comforted her. They were so simplistic and yet, they either gave her the courage or melted the anger away.

They took their time as she struggled to compose herself. At that very moment, she felt as if she had all the time in the world despite the horrors shown just right outside the hospital. Her fear slowly began to decline down to manageable levels as she slowly pulled herself away unwillingly from Liv's comforting embrace. Hands came to immediately brush the tears smudged upon her face, having that glossy gaze lock upon the red head before her. How he could easily piss her off and calm her down all in one setting was a mystery to her. Damn this cop…

…But she forced a smile anyway. "Thanks…" She murmured and fished out the dog tags that once were tucked in his shirt, toying with them between dainty fingers, "I'm…Sorry. I didn't mean to--"

"--It's alright. We're all on edge, Jody. Let's just find him and get the hell out of here before things get worse, alright?" -_Hell…as if things couldn't get any worse.- _

Jody's nose wrinkled and she'd silently nod. Liv was right. The sooner they found James, the better their opportunity was to find a window out of this mess. With that in mind, it lifted the young nurse's spirits and she turned to continue down the hall were James' room was promised to be. They would get out of this mess…They would make it out together…

----------

Her heart felt as if it would literally burst out from her chest as she fished the keys out from her pockets with trembling, clammy hands. It took a while to find the key and even longer to shove it into the lock to room 732. As the key twisted, her thoughts began to twist as well.

What if James managed to escape?

If so, where would he be?

…What if he didn't escape at all?

What if somehow one of those things got inside and…

She bit her lower lip hard and swallowed the lump forming in her throat as the lock _clicked._ No, she couldn't think of those things. James _had _to be in here and _had _to be alive. He just had to be. He'll suddenly stir from his bed and wonder just what the hell was going on and then ask her just what the **fuck **Liv was doing in his room. It was a confrontation that was surely inevitable, but it was definitely going to be worth it in the long run…If they didn't strangle each other, that is.

Her heart began to pound in her chest as she slowly opened the door with the men who sensed the tension as well. Any minute now, she expected a rotting hand to shoot out from behind of the door and drag her inside into…

…an empty room. Relief had washed away all the tension just for the worry to settle in once again. James wasn't here? Then where was he? She pushed the door open to only stare down upon a disheveled hospital bed. Everything else within the room was kept decent. No struggling, no blood splatter…So where was the patient? Jody silently prayed that somehow he had escaped this retched place. As long as he was safe, she was sure she'd be content with that.

Just to make sure, the group had checked the entire room. Under the bed, in the small bathroom, out on the balcony…and just as Liv was about to check the closet, something stirred inside of it. Naturally, this instantly grabbed Liv's attention and had him on alert once again. No way someone would be that stupid to hide in some damn closet, right? The man was a scientist working for Umbrella…and there was no way that he'd be hiding in a closet of all places…Right? Swallowing down a lump in his throat, he grasped the tiny golden knob and looked towards the two who had apparently armed themselves while he wasn't paying attention. Jody had snatched up the bedside lamp while Mick was ready to spear or beat the living crap out of anything with the I.V. stand.

_Well that was fast…_

Readied with his gun, Liv braced himself and silently counted down.

_-Three…-_

_-Two…-_

_-One…-_

And the closet door was yanked open for James Redwick to go all out on Liv with a wire hanger and a shrill war cry that would've only scared the mice away. The first place where the wire hanger swatted was Liv's hand that quickly dropped the pistol, having it skitter across the tile after being kicked around by the other two who jumped in to desperately tear these two "rivals" apart. After a grueling five minutes of kicking, screaming, cursing and hanger whaps, the two were finally pulled apart; Mick holding down the now steaming Liv, and Jody pressing a firm hand to James' heaving chest.

Liv only knew that if this were under different circumstances, James would have to book a few days more for the hospital. Liv glared up at the blonde who only returned the same icy glare. "Jody, just wot in the bloody 'ell is this son of a bitch doing here?"

Nevermind, he'd need to book a few more months.

But before Jody could answer that, Liv snapped up and wrenched his shoulder away from the morgue assistant. God, he so wanted to punch his pretty boy face… "_We _came to save _your _ass. Just what kind of faggot fights with a wire hanger anyway?" Liv snarled and put a finger to the developing welt upon his cheek as James scoffed in his stupid, fancy British accent that made Liv want to rip his vocal cords out.

"The kind of _faggot _that didn't have ANYTHING to defend himself with. Be lucky it was just a _hanger_, you bloody wanka'."

Liv began to seethe again which only added fuel to James' fire. James smirked, seeing how easy it was to piss this fiery red-head off.

"D'oh…Wot? Going to try and shoot me again? Go ahead and shoot! Thas' all you can do, isn't it? Jus' shoot anyone n' anythin'? So typical for a weak, _pathetic _piece of--"

"Go ahead and shoot, eh? I don't need a gun to send you back in the fucking hospital!" Liv roared and was about to charge until Mick and Jody squeezed themselves in between the hotheads who glared and spitted curses at one another.

"STOP IT!" Jody finally screamed and got everyone's attention, "We don't have time for this crap! There are people dying out there…and in here too…W-We have to get out of here now or else we'll die too!"

The men fell silent until she settled her glare upon James and seethed at such immaturity. "Liv's right. **I **was the one who dragged him here to help us…The LEAST you can do is not give him a rash. Save that for later!" The petite nurse hissed and decided to take a moment to actually breathe before Mick decided to break the ice floating heavily upon this…very odd triangle. "L-Look guys…The van's in the back parking lot. We'll take the stairs down to the parking lot. Easy, right?" Mick said with a bit too much hope in his voice that Jody had to question now.

"But what about the power? You won't be able to open the gate without any power."

"There should be an emergency power source in the parking lot. Liv can get to the emergency generator while the three of us start up the van and get ready to pick him up."

"Well….do you have the card key?"

Every nurse, doctor, and other staff members were required to carry around card keys designated for their parking space. The system was simple; An employee would pull up to the gate, pass their card key through the reader, and the gate would open for the car to pass through. The gate had to be closed at all times and secured thanks to the number of sick (and dead) that arrived at the hospital. Parking spaces were often full and people were even bold enough to either leave their cars running in the parking lot, or flood inside like sheep to the flock. It always caused havoc amongst the civilians and hospital staff alike and made it only harder for the ambulance to pull into the hospital. Mick and Jake were required to acquire a key shortly after the number of victims began to increase.

"I…" But before Mick could say anything, he began to fish feverishly into his pockets. The more time he took, the more he noticed the shoulders slumped and how hope began to spiral down the drain. It soon dawned upon him the location of the key. Who had it last…Who wasn't with them right at this instant…Who had a mean stutter…

"Jake…was the one who had it last." he shamefully confessed as Liv pinched the bridge of his nose In slight frustration with Jody to look between the two. "Who's Jake?"

Mick hesitantly spoke up once again as James returned to his bedside to collect a few of his belongings--including the glasses in which he pushed up the bridge of his nose. As James began to smooth out his blonde locks and began to rummage for his clothes that Jody had brought by since his release was supposed to be the next day.

"Jake…He was my friend. The reason why we were here is because our morgue at the station was full..So we brought the body to your morgue…and…" Mick began to strain as the painful memories began to flood and overwhelm, "The other victims…they came alive..Even the one we brought in and…they…_ate _him alive." he finally breathed out the rest as Jody cupped her mouth in shock. Dead bodies coming back to life? It sure was something hard to swallow, but it was happening right outside the window. So maybe it wasn't something so hard to swallow…

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's alright…There was nothing we could do about it."

Liv finally stepped in as James had finally finished slipping on a grey jacket and dark blue sweatpants complete with a pair of Nike runners. "Alright, don't worry about it. Let's just find this key and get the hell out of here. Jody, where can we find a spare card key at?"

"Um…We could try the security office on this floor…and the other one on the second floor. We'll have to be careful there though. The rooms aren't secured like these."

Liv nodded as James picked up the SIG and began to examine it as if it should be stuck in a petri dish, holding the handle between pointer and thumb. Liv definitely caught notice of this douche bag and snatched the gun away, ignoring the tisk of disgust as he double checked his clip. "Right. We'll start here and work our way down. Stay together and we'll get through this fast. Search everything thoroughly and whatever weapons you can find, take 'em with you. Any ammo you find, give it to me." Everyone agreed-- even James who discreetly rolled his eyes after complying.

Things went smooth as they made their way to the security office; their first checkpoint. No monsters around the corners. No smelly, rotting corpses bursting through the doors to devour the group. Nothing but the awkward silence to accompany the survivors as Jody went to work on the door with the keys and let the rest of them in. The four of them were quick to spread out, rummaging through filing cabinets, desk drawers, files, and everything they could get their hands on. Majority that they found proved to be useless and filled dread within their thoughts of going into the infected second floor office. "So I'm guessing that we're going to go down to the second floor, right?" James snorted and leaned against the solid oak desk he finished searching through and dug fingers into the blue cast upon his right hand to scratch at itchy knuckles.

"Seems that way," Mick roughly spat out in mild frustration as he slammed a desk drawer shut and leaned against the furniture, combing thick fingers through his hair.

Out of the four, Jody was the very last to give up after finding an unused First-Aid Spray in a glass cabinet that won second best against Liv's methods of breaking into things without keys. It was an amazing find—especially when the route to the storage room was bound to be corroded by the infected. Jody gave her silent thanks to whomever decided to snatch this up for their own use and found a nearby pouch most likely left behind from a member of the staff. Just as she was snapping the buckle shut about her waist, Mick cursed to himself, roughly pushing away from the desk. It was completely understandable to be this frustrated, but never could she say "I understand where you're coming from" because she never had to personally witness a close friend killed or…being eaten alive in this case. She flinched when he slammed a burly fist against the wall and opened her mouth to speak until a loud **BANG **suddenly grabbed everyone's attention. Gazes leapt from one to another nervously until…

**BANG!...BANG!...**

And then they heard the blood curling screams.

Quickly, they all scrambled out from the office and out onto the main hall where the loud noises echoed down from, mixed with the muffled screams from earlier. Four doors down, the door at the end of the hallway began to jitter and the screams rose at least several octaves in Liv's opinion. The survivors stood rooted to the spot until the door flung open unceremoniously as a patient flew onto the royal blue carpet with…another on top of him?

The bloodied patient screamed and flailed from beneath the attacker as chunks of flesh were torn free from his arms and claws which sliced thoroughly into his face. Blood splattered almost artistically onto the whitewashed wall as the being on top of him whipped a clawed, retched hand to only bring it down upon the man as he screamed. The set of jagged claws upon the beings hand swiped and had cut the man's mouth from ear-to-ear, having the man's eyes widen as he gargled in protest. It was then that the being delivered the final fatal attack as it dove down, having pearly whites sink into the man's soft jugular with a satisfying _crunch. _Blood began to spew and the man's feet began to spasm and drum upon the carpet as teeth began to literally chew into him.

The four watched wordlessly, jaws dropped open and hearts literally skipping a few beats in between. Jody trembled as the creature began to devour the rest, hungrily tearing flesh from the torso first. James cringed at the squishing, squelching noises as it hungrily chewed. Liv clenched its jaw as it suddenly shivered with _delight _and Mick's nails began to dig into his palms as the creature suddenly realized it wasn't alone. It craned its head towards the four, crunching upon flesh as bits flew from its bloodied mouth. Unlike the slow-stalking undead that roamed the streets, this one was entirely different. The pigment of its skin was not a papery white, but a blood crimson as if the corpse had been placed out in the sun for way too long. Skin had crackled along the being's entire body and patches of hair had clung wetly to its exposed scalp. Bony fingers twitched as the fresh blood of its kill slowly dripped from the jagged tips as it bore it's pupil-less eyes upon its new "prey" and shuddered as it groaned for more flesh to feast upon.

Liv knew it was definitely…time to go. "Oh shit…RUN!"

No one needed to be told twice as they bolted back down the narrow hallway they came from. The fire escape there was definitely going to be a welcoming sight to sore eyes. The creature suddenly screamed in rage and literally sprung off the mangled flesh it straddled and barreled its way towards Liv who stood his ground. Lanky crimson arms stretched out to its sides as it ran, claws easily tearing into the walls.

The adrenaline began to pump through the young officer's veins as the creature quickly closed the distance between them. Liv pulled the trigger, sending a round straight into the creature's torso. The damn thing didn't even flinch! He aimed higher and fired once again. The bullet punched straight into the being's throat, having blood spew and spray haphazardly onto the walls as its head jerked left and right.

_-FUCK!- _

The fucker was fast! Before Liv could take another shot, the creature swiped for him, swatting only air as the officer leapt back with a cry. Again the creature swiped for only the man to duck beneath and backpedal away…although the moment Liv's back bumped against the wall, he nearly messed his boxers as the creature lounged for him this time. With a sudden yelp, Liv dropped just as it's filthy claws jammed themselves into the wall and rolled away when the creature's face jammed into the white wall. He scrambled to his feet and staggered back as the being shoved away from the wall without a care in the world that it now was apparently missing a few teeth.

Liv fired off once again as he scrambled desperately to avoid those nasty claws and bloodied teeth, punching two clean holes through the creature's thigh. Combining the speed it was running with the now shattered femur from the gunshot wounds, equaled to a nasty fall. The monster's leg snapped back, sending it down to the ground; face first where it got a good taste of the carpet and skid literally to Liv's feet.

_-That should slow it down…right?-_

But before the officer was about to bless himself with relief, the gurgling and scrapings immediately had his attention again. The monster growled and made a futile swipe for his feet as the officer jumped back. Even with a femur shattered, the monster screeched and began to crawl its way towards Liv at an alarming pace. "What the fu—

"LIV! C'MON!" Jody screamed out to him from the opened stairway until another patient's room was thrown open, having yet another one of those crimson creatures stumble out…

And lock it's dead eyes upon him like free fresh meat.

"LIV!"

So what if he needed to be told twice? Liv turned fast upon heels as the crimson head screamed and gave chase, completely unaware of its counterpart as it stampeded over the writhing body. Every curse that had been thought up of from man began to run through his head as his legs cramped and his chest burned with every gasp of air he struggled to take in. He could hear it gaining on him, the scratching of its claws along the walls ringing in his ears. He could make it…Goddamnit he had to! If he didn't, then he couldn't protect…

As he neared the door, Mick opened it just enough for Liv to fling himself inside the stairwell and shoved the door right onto the flailing crimson arm that shot its way through. Somehow, the creature was fast enough to snag the back of both his shirt and jacket, ensnaring it within it's filthy claws to drag him back into the hall kicking and screaming. For a corpse, the damn thing was strong! Jody began to scream as well, frantically clawing and pulling at Liv in an epic tug of war between the survivors and the crimson zombie. James began to pull for the officer as well who clung for dear life onto the door and for the two frantically pulled to save him. It was only then that Mick's thick hand had finally joined the war, grasping his forearm and yanking him back into the stairwell with his jacket and shirt being the only casualties of the fight. Releasing Liv, that very hand curled into a massive fist and collided with the creature's face that drove the monster away from the stairwell…But alas, Mick's heroics had cost him dearly.

As the monster flew back, it's flailing hand had managed to grasp his muscular forearm, allowing claws to rake along his skin before the momentum had it slam into the wall.

Mick yelped in pain and slammed the heavy door shut and ignored the poundings that ensued shortly after as he leaned against the wall. He clutched his wounded forearm dearly, watching as the four gashes began to gush and bleed out onto the floor. While James sat and sighed to himself in relief and Liv who slumped onto the stairway to catch his breath, Jody fished out the first aid spray, silently thanking whomever was watching over them on this apocalyptic day. "H-Here!..Oh…Oh my god…Hold still," she warned, popping off the lid and giving it a shake. "This is gonna sting…"

Mick hissed and nodded, but never really believed her. Every doctor and nurse always LIED when it came to estimating the sensation of pain. It's one of the reasons why he hated going to the doctor. Ever since he was little, his doctors always lied to him when he got his tetanus shots for school. Or the time where he fractured his knuckle for missing a kid's face and grazing the street sign pole. You're gonna feel a bit of pressure" was always deemed subliminal for "This is going to HURT."

**FSSSHHT!**

For now, he settled for clenching his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut as best as he could while the spray began it's work. The First Aid Spray was one of Umbrella's top selling products for being able to speed up the blood clotting process to seal wounds in a matter of seconds. What it also did was kill the bacteria…and that's what hurt the most.

Mick groaned in pain and shivered as Jody finished and observed the results…

…which weren't going the way it was supposed to be. The spray had done little to stop the bleeding and only encouraged the swelling upon the man's thick forearm. What puzzled the nurse was that the blood was…darker than it should be. The pigment should've been a rich red—not a darkened red…no, not even a black color! Veins began to surface beneath the man's skin and even the pigment around the wound began to pale. What was going on?...

"It'll be okay for now…right?" Mick asked, his face lined with worry at the nurse's sudden change of expression. They were scratches…they shouldn't be such a big deal…right? Right?

Well Jody didn't have a complete answer for him. Things weren't working in a world where things were supposed to work and continue working. So she only gave him the truth while putting away the spray and fished out a fresh roll of gauze to wrap his arm.

"To be honest, I don't really know…the spray should be enough. We'll keep an eye on your wounds as we go." She simply replied while wrapping the wounds as the others had finally got to their feet.

Liv had finally managed to recover himself and somehow still had a pair of clean boxers. It was a damn close call for him and he was lucky to have them by his side. If not…If it weren't for Mick…

_-Goddamnit…-_

Liv wearily eyed the freshly wrapped wound as Mick flexed his already numbing fingers and admiring Jody's finished work. It was then that Liv finally willed himself over to give the man a good pat on the shoulder. "Thanks," Liv spoke with a tinge of guilt, "If it weren't for you right there…I'd—

Mick only smiled in return, instantly cutting off the officer there with a jolly good elbow to the man's shoulder. "Don't mention it. We're all in this together, right? We gotta be." They had to or else they wouldn't make it far.

Over the poundings against the door that ensued after that moment of silence, James finally pushed himself away from the wall, scowling at the group before making his way down the stairs ahead of them. "Yeah, It's a nice thing to see you all 'goody, goody' with yourselves…But I would like to get the hell outta' here before that freak breaks through the door and eats us all!"

And with that peaceful moment broken, the three followed in silence, Liv being the last of them.

_-What an asshole…-_

The rest of the way down to the second floor was both uneventful and _extremely _tiring. Spiraling down flight after flight had gotten the group dizzy—particularly Mick who was now so suddenly having trouble seeing the stairs after passing the fourth floor. Since James was the one grumbling for nearly half the time, he was put on the difficult task of keeping Mick upon two feet who began to break out into a cold sweat as they passed the third floor considering Jody was too small to help him.

At last, they crowded around the second floor fire escape door, each gulping and trembling with the fear that overwhelmed them. If this floor was that infected…Then how many zombies were there? Ten? Twenty?...What if there were more of those crimson ones? It was difficult to get one crawling on the ground—let alone trying to shut the door on just ONE of them. So many questions began to flood into Liv's already pounding head as he grasped the handle and squeezed his gun in desperate need for a sense of security. Looking back towards the group, he gritted his teeth in frustration as he took in Mick's bulky figure now heavily slumped over James' helping shoulder. Already, the man had broken into a sweat, having it all soak around the collar of his jumpsuit. What was once a rich tan, was now beginning to fade into a pasty white complexion.

_-Just like those things outside…-._

"Don't worry…we'll make it out of this…alright?" Liv spoke in his best reassuring tone which only had silent nods in return. Hope was beginning to already diminish and they weren't even out of the hospital yet. He had to try…he had to try harder!

So with a deep breath, he opened the door and headed out into the second floor hallway…


	6. Chapter V

**Author's Note: Heeeey! Back again! FINALLY. I personally hated thinking up of this next chapter and…Hopefully you all like it, hm! **

There were problems. Big problems. Liv was forced to return back to the stairwell with the small group in tow. Just as they feared, many of the patients and staff alike had succumbed to the cannibal virus and now wandered aimlessly in the second floor hallways, searching for any living thing to feast upon. It was a real downer that had gotten almost everyone frustrated—except for Mick who decided to take a rest and slump in the corner. James, Jody, and Liv were the ones pacing about, wondering how the hell they were going to do this.

Finally, Liv took a break and leaned against the wall, chewing on his thumbnail in thought. Liv could easily get around the undead, considering he had a gun and the fact that these things weren't that fast or smart. Then again, there were the rest. Any one of them could freeze up in fear of the creatures and easily get cornered to where Liv couldn't get to them. They would only slow him down. Not to mention, there was Mick that slowed their pace even more than before. There was only one option; go solo.

The gun he had holstered was finally drawn and double checked. A full clip; one in the chamber. He had two more clips in his back pocket. Many scenarios began to burn through his mind as he began to check what little equipment he had. He could collide into one of those stinking corpses or maybe he'd have a clumsy moment of all times and roll right into a crowd of them, or the worst of all, run into those red-skinned zombie things again…Yeah, that would be fan-fuckin'-tastic.

_-Yeah…I can do it. Fuck.-_

Hearing the snaps and clicks of Liv's gun, Jody and James looked up in unison towards the officer. "Goin' somewhere?" James sarcastically questioned with a brow raised that made Liv bristle and run through a stream of curses in his head. He hated almost everything about the man. From his stupid hair always having to be combed to the side…To the smug look plastered onto his ugly mug…Even the way the man's prissy little English accent dribbled from his lips…Liv simply hated it all. He couldn't think of anything likeable about him, period. The damn guy even had the balls to sarcastically question every plan Liv could think of. Fuckin' asshole… If only he could pistol whip him again…

"Yeah, I'm _'goin' _somewhere," he blatantly stated and slammed the clip home, "I'm going out there for that key. You three stay here and wait for me to come back. If I don't come back within twenty minutes, then go on without me into the parking lot. You won't be able to get the van out, but I'm sure there's an emergency door you guys can use." He hated the idea, but it was best to at least give them another objective if he managed to be an idiot and run into the lot of those creatures. The three he addressed only stared in silence and he dutifully noticed how wide Jody's eyes had become. Any second now, she'd violently protest and…

"What! No, you can't go out there by yourself! You don't even know where the security office is and you don't have the keys to get in!" Jody protested shrilly as Liv predicted. It almost scared him as to how he could easily call out what she would do next. "You don't know how many of those things are out there and you sure as hell aren't _superman."_

True. He didn't have the keys…But that didn't stop him from continuing on with his grand solo mission. He held out his hand, despite already knowing her incoming answer. "Then give me the keys."

Jody stared at his gloved hand for the longest time, fingering the set of keys she held before she pulled them away childishly and said, "No."

Figures. Liv growled, "C'mon, we don't have time for this…"

To which James finally chipped in, "Jody, jus' let 'superman' go by himself. He thinks he can take them on, _let_ him." Jody only scowled at him in return before turning her gaze back to the determined officer.

Yup. The cowardly man who stole Jody's heart from him was indeed an insufferable bastard.

Jody stared at his hand once again for the longest time, swallowing a lump that developed in her throat before she made her final decision. She didn't give up the keys.

"I said no. I'm going with you."

Now James lividly protested, "WOT! Jody, you can't go with him! You'll get yourself **killed!** If he wants to go die for some stupid key, then let him die by himself!"

Struggling to ignore James and what little care he had for Liv's safety, he only shook his head. There were just too many possibilities "No Jody…I can't let—"

"Can't let me what? Do anything? Liv, you don't know where you'll be going…And _I _have the keys…and** I** say _no. _I don't care what you think; I'm going with you…I trust you."

Oh, that definitely made Liv's heart swell. His hand dropped just as James' jaw did. She…Still trusted him—even if he had done what he did six months ago…Then again, she probably only trusted him considering he had the only firearm amongst the group, but hearing such a thing actually boosted his confidence. Perhaps he was superman after all. For the first time in what seemed like centuries to Liv, he cracked a warm smile, insisting on taking her hand instead. "Then…Let's go."

Steam began to blow out of James' ears as Jody took his hand into hers. Why did she ever trust that animal? No…No that red-headed idiot was going to get her killed. He was going to get them all killed! He put a hand to the nurse's shoulder, his face clearly outlined with distrust. "Jody, are you insane? You can't go—"

"James, if he dies, then we all die! Whether you like it or not, Liv is good at what he does…Protecting people. We _will _be coming back…" she said as fingers caressed the British man's cheek and gently moved his hand from her shoulder." If you don't trust him, then trust me. We _will_ come back. I promise."

Even if reassuring him worked, he still didn't like the fact that it was this red-headed prick that still had her trust. He silently grinded his teeth, glaring at the two (mainly Liv) and finally forced a sigh. "Alright…I'll stay here. You better bring her back or else it's your ass."

Liv only smirked and took Jody along with him out into the second floor.

Hearing the click of the stairwell door lock, he knew well that he had to keep his eyes peeled, skills sharpened, and to make sure he had Jody in his sights at all times. They stayed along the wall, creeping silently through the hall until they came to a two way. Straight ahead had a handful of zombies mindlessly bumping into each other in their moaning, undead mosh pit. Towards the right, two or three staggered about, bumping into walls or standing around idly. "Which way?" he whispered to the nurse, "Left or right?" He prayed she said to the right…

Said nurse stayed close by, not wanting to leave this officer's side as she cuddled more to his arm, fearing the zombies that staggered about all around them. "The left side…is the shortest route…The right is the longest because we'll have to go all the way around…Then again, going the long way around looks like it's the safest.."

Liv had to agree. "Okay, let's go.." he nodded and they took the right side. Liv was able to sneak up behind of one and out of sheer experimentation, he was successful. If he could easily dispatch them with headshots, what about breaking the neck? Almost nothing survived those kinds of injuries… Right? So he snagged the zombie's forehead and under the jaw and gave a violent twist. The results were in a sickening, but pleasing set of crackling bones under the sudden force of momentum that dropped the zombie in a rotting heap. Liv waited, but the creature didn't get up for round two. Jody only gasped and plastered herself to the wall, hands cupped over her mouth as Liv looked back to her.

Poor thing. He felt sorry that she had to see such violent acts being done to the patients she swore to help. One minute she was helping an old lady and in the next, she was forced to watch Liv put a bullet through her skull. He casted a look of sympathy. No, he couldn't imagine what she was going through at the moment. She had just achieved her dream and it was shattered to a thousand pieces within a month. "Sorry Jody…But we gotta do what we have to do…These aren't your patients anymore…They're something else now. Just keep thinking that way and you'll be fine."

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Even if Liv was right, it didn't stop her from trembling at the gruesome sight. As she looked down upon the decaying face of the man who Liv had just finished off, she remembered who it was. Jonathan Royce, Age twenty-eight. He had come in for a bad cough and a constant migraine. He told her he had two wonderful children whom he raised on his own after his wife lost her fight against breast cancer. He always talked about his two girls whenever she came in for his daily examination…

Now, he was nothing but a rotting corpse. Someone chewed happily on his face—even gouged an eye out. His ear was missing...and a portion of his head had been scalped…

Liv was right. She had to keep thinking that way or else she'll never survive like this. That 'thing' was no more than a shell. Jonathan was a good man and good people like him were in a better place now. "Y-Yeah…I understand.." she said with a strong, but shaky tone. Liv nodded and snuck up behind the two remaining in the hallway, snapping their necks with ease as she tailed behind him.

Touching them…Felt pervasive, filthy, and almost always, his hands were left with decaying residue that he smeared either against the wall or on his pant legs. Even if the residue was smeared away, he could still feel the gunk on his hands. Pervasive. So pervasive…and he knew well that the smell rotting flesh and blood would never come out. Not only from his gloves, but from his mind, period. He knew well that if they were to survive, they were going to have to get used to that smell. Thank god he had gloves on…right?

The hallway ended up turning left. He wasn't the type to go rushing in. He had to take his time. Besides, he doubted that Jody could keep up with him and he knew that there would've been a good chance he'd accidentally let her run into the bunch of those slow fuckers. Then she'd be doomed and it would all fall onto his already dirty hands. He pressed himself against the corner and peered out into the hallway. Luckily for them, the vast majority had decided to crowd together back in the straightaway path they chose to avoid. So far, not a zombie in sight. He motioned for her hand in which Jody had taken it without hesitation. "C'mon, let's go."

The hallways seemed safe and clear as Liv and Jody made their quick pass. Some rooms were open, revealing the carnage and bloodshed that transpired in different ways. Some creatures still remained in there, standing idly staring at the walls. One even started at the white noise of a Television. It would've been comical If the Raccoon Sharks football game was on. So much for that.

They turned another left, having Liv easily dispatch three other additional zombies with the last one's head being smashed against the wall like a rotting pumpkin and leaving a nice blood stain with a bit of flesh and hair still sliding and falling away. At last, they turned right, heading down a narrow hallway towards a door with bold letters that spelled out "SECURITY". So far, this wasn't so bad. Maybe it was a good thing they crowded up in that particular hallway.

Jody fished out her keys, unlocked the door, and allowed Liv to slip inside first, making sure the area was safe before Jody meandered in. Inside, the place was a wreck just like the first. Chairs and tables were overturned, papers littered the floor, and blood was smeared upon the walls. This didn't deter the officer, but he knew well that he'd have to still be on the alert.

"Let's be quick about this, alright?" he spoke while clearing out the room. No zombies…That was a good relief. To his surprise, the security room was quite large. Three bodies littered the ground, dressed in the tattered blue security uniforms they were once required to wear. "I'll check the bodies…"

"Okay…"

And so the search began. Checking the bodies proved to be somewhat useful. Two additional handgun magazines were pocketed. Jody had found an additional First-Aid Kit in which she tucked under one arm for Mick and whoever else just so happened to get themselves injured on the run. Looking through the desk drawers and book shelves failed to help them find the elusive card key. While Liv began to search through the desks again, Jody's attention was drawn towards the security monitors that took up nearly half of the back wall.

Little did she know, she was being watched from the grates above…

"Liv…"

It wasn't that she called his name that got his full attention. It was the way she said it. He always recognized the joy, sorrow, or sheer anger in her voice whenever she'd call his name…But this time, he felt the fear in her voice. The sheer, animalistic fear that had her petite body trembling as she stared up at the dozens of monitors. Slowly he rose to his feet; his eyes glued more to the monitors rather than Jody. He didn't realize the fact that he was right behind of the small woman until she suddenly turned away and buried her face into his chest. On the monitors…

…It was a nightmare before his eyes.

In almost every screen, the undead swarmed about, mindlessly moaning and groaning amongst each other. The carnage they saw in the other patient rooms were magnified times two in the main lobby. Various limbs and organs were strewn about upon the once bleach-white tiled floors. Bodies were thrown against corners and lapped over chairs like leftover laundry; Bodies that were ripped open with their intestines ripped out and strewn across the floors for the undead to step on. Other various, half-chewed organs were strewn onto the reception desk and even strung onto the lights like party streamers. Lord knows how the zombies managed to do that, but they did indeed manage to throw themselves a gruesome party downstairs. _So much for going out through the front door_. Liv blanched at the carnal sight. Then his eyes were drawn towards another monitor…

A lone nurse scrambled down the hallway with the undead nipping at her heels. He watched as she stumbled around the corner to only wind up at a dead elevator. She desperately smashed the call button, but the elevator didn't respond. He saw her scream and cry in frustration until the fleet of undead finally rounded the corner. She crammed herself up against the wall, hands held up as she begged and pleaded for her life. Her pleas went unheard and muted to Liv's ears as the first zombie grabbed her arm in the same vice-like grip he was forced to endure a while back. Yellowed teeth sank into the flesh of her arm and began to tear out a good chunk of it as another latched onto her other arm. They feasted on their living, squirming buffet as she screamed and struggled in their grasp. Others began to cling onto the rest of her body, biting and chewing just as another one finally silenced her pain-filled screams with rotting teeth to sink into her vulnerable neck. Blood spurted from her wide-open mouth as her body began to sink into the crowd. Her bloodied, chewed hand shot out from the undead mass, outstretching towards the ceiling in a final cry of help…

Her terror-filled gaze landed upon her only witness; the security camera.

It felt…It felt like she knew that someone was watching this; someone who wouldn't have been able to reach her in time. Someone like Liv who gasped and flinched when their eyes had met. What scared him more was that the woman looked just like Jody…and it reminded him of the deadly consequences he'd have to endure should he fail in his duty.

His duty to protect her.

He didn't realize just how tight he was holding Jody until she grunted in discomfort and forced herself out of his grasp. Finally managing to peel his gaze away from the monitor, he glanced down at Jody who tugged at his jacket with a face full of worry. "A…Are you alright?..."

He…Couldn't tell her what he had just seen. What good would it do anyway? No, he'd keep that as a silent reminder of why they needed to make it out of this god-awful place alive. Liv swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat and nodded. "I'm fine…did you find anything?"

"N-No…Did you?..."

Liv shook his head.

"Then let's just keep looking…"

The search began once again, but the more they searched, the more it seemed pointless to continue on. Just when Liv was about to grind his teeth and give up all hope, Jody had picked up a black composition book and opened it up to the first page.

"It looks like a diary…"

Ugh. Curiosity began to bite at his ankles. Why not? They didn't spend much time in here…Mick and James were in a safe place. It didn't hurt to see… "Well, what does it say?"

Jody didn't say anything as she skimmed through a couple pages of the diary. Entries of nonsense, bitching, and the occasional "checking-out-the-chicks" filled the college-ruled pages..But as she began to delve into the middle of the book, blood specks littered the entries. Entries that started in late July.

_July 23__rd__ 1998_

_Sometimes I hate this job, but what can I do? There's not much else to do around this place unless you wanna be some loser pizza guy. Oh well. At least the uniforms make us look cool, right? Whatever._

_Anyway, Andre, Matt, and Joe were supposed to swing by tonight during the graveyard shift for some poker. A little fun can't hurt anyone, right? I feel pretty damn lucky today…I'll whoop Andre's ass! The little scrub. I think he's a cheater._

Liv's brow rose to the first entry Jody read aloud. "So much for security around here."

Jody nodded in agreement.

_August 16__th__ 1998_

_Honestly, it's been getting pretty intense around here. All the Doctors look so overworked…and the nurses…Well, thank god I'm not one of them. Let's put it that way. It's like the entire population of Raccoon City's tryin' to cram into the Lobby. We can't hold off all these people! Mike and I had to get downstairs and control the crowd. We even had to make a handful of people wait outside. Sucks to be them. It's been pretty damn cold these summer nights. I don't blame them for being so pissed off with us. _

_I swear to Christ, some of them look like they were sleeping in trash cans. Some smell, some have snot dribbling down their face. Their faces…They look so gaunt..So pale. It's fuckin' freaky. I'm using a mask from now on. I've had a clean health record and I'm not gonna let these fuckers ruin it with…whatever they have._

_August 23__rd_

_It's getting even worse…I've never felt so scared of staying here before. All the hospital staff had a meeting…and practically half of them looked like they were getting sick too. It was basically about keeping ourselves from getting infected with whatever these people were getting sick from. Any village idiot can tell that this 'flu' is contagious. So that's what they were basically covering up on. No big deal to me, I say. I already have my mask. _

_September 3__rd__, 1998_

_I had to get in the middle between some crazy fuck and his doctor. I just came back from picking up a sandwich from across the street and I saw this guy pounce on the doctor. He just…tackled him to the ground! Ripped a chunk clean from his neck! I swear to god, I nearly shit my pants. Another doctor helped me pry the crazy guy off and put him down with restraints on his bed. He smelled horrible._

_It's strange though…The look in that guy's eyes…They were all fogged up and glassy..Like he was dead or something. I mean, that's impossible, right? People don't suddenly die from the flu and then come back to life like..Zombies. I think I'm gonna skip out on watching horror flicks for a while…_

_September 4__th__, 1998_

_I heard that Doc who got bit didn't make it. Bled out like a stuck pig on the way to the Critical ward. On my watch alone, there were four more attacks. All the attackers were the patients that came in with flu-like symptoms. As soon as someone would walk into the patient's room for a routine check-up, the patient would pounce 'em like lions and start..biting them. It's like they turn into cannibals or something! And not to mention, they smell horrible. Like…Like somehow, they found themselves some fresh road kill and rubbed it all over themselves, I tell ya! _

_We got a new procedure now…All of the patient rooms have to have security cameras inside them. Whee. More monitors for us to look at. Nevermind installing them… They said it's best this way so that we can alert the staff if something's going wrong with them. That, and we can confirm if they're waiting to ambush the doors or whatever. _

_September 10__th__, 1998_

_Everyone's calling in sick now. I haven't heard much from Mike for the past few days. Bet that fucker's trying to play hooky or something. Even the hospital staff's short-handed. It's ridiculous! No one's coming in to relieve me of my shift, so I gotta sit here some more. I swear to god they better pay me O.T. for this._

Some of the pages were illegible thanks to the blood that had soaked into the paper. Jody frowned, skimming past the sticky pages until it came onto the last two entries, both written with a shaky hand and a few smudges of blood smeared onto them.

_September 24__th__, 1998_

_Mike's gone crazy too! I had to get my ass down to the lobby since one of those lunatics began to attack one of the nurses. Then I saw Mike stumble in, lookin' like he went through hell and back. I tried to help him, but instead he attacks me too! Got me good on the arm. Almost took a chunk clean off! I had no choice but to defend myself. He's in the morgue now…How am I gonna tell his wife?_

_Ever since I got that bite, it's been itching like crazy! My arm's swollen like a sausage..and…god, I ache all over. It won't even stop bleeding…_

_Whatever I eat, It's never filling. So hungry…_

_I couldn't help it. Scratched at my arm and a hunk of flesh just fell off. What the fuck is happening to me?_

_Can't think…_

_Hungry.._

_Cold…_

_September 25__th__, 1998_

_Cold…Hungry._

On the last page, a bloodied card had been stuck to the last page to where Jody had to put some effort into tearing it off. It was the very key they had been searching for. The two survivors looked towards each other with a hint of an accomplished smile on their faces until…

_Splat…_

_Splat…_

Their smiles quickly faded and slowly, they both turned around in unison, watching as a thick globs of slime began to spill out from the vent of the air conditioner in the far corner of the room. It pooled and thickened, spreading out over the blue carpet.

"What the fuck is that?..." Liv murmured and was sorely tempted to get up close and examine it. Just as he was about to take action, Jody snatched up the sleeve of his jacket and yanked him back. "Don't!...I..It's moving!.."

What? No. Things like 'slime' wouldn't be suddenly moving out of it's own volition. Out of it's own free will. Even as Jody tugged and tugged, he stepped closer…Squinting his eyes, he watched as the build-up of slime slowly began to writhe, wiggle, and slither his way. The strong smell of chemicals and rotting blood quickly attacked his senses and forced him to stumble back. Tears began to form in his stinging eyes.

"Please, Liv! Let's just get out of here!"

The rest of the slime finally pooled out from the vent and joined the mass which began to rise to a good six feet. Hunks of 'god-knows-what' and particles floated about within it's thick slimy mass. It burbled, growled, and suddenly, it began to slither towards one of the very bodies that Liv had searched. It hunched over and suddenly began to swallow up the corpse. Little by little, it swallowed up the head, shoulders, and torso…right down to the legs and feet. Suddenly, the blob twitched and slowly, it's pigmentation darkened from a milky transparent white to a shade of black as the body inside began to twist and contort into horrid angles while it dissolved away. Bone snapped, skin disintegrated…Everything began to melt within the strange slime within a matter of seconds.

The two survivors slowly backed away, hoping and praying this thing didn't sense them within the room. They watched with gaping mouths as the blob swallowed up and quickly began to digest the second body. For the second time that day, Liv heard the fear in Jody's voice again. It wouldn't be the last.

"Liv…"

"Shh.."

For now, the blob seemed content enough feasting on the corpses and that was completely fine with him. Slowly, he reached for the door, turned the knob, and gently began to pull it open. Just when they thought they were about to get away, the door hinges creaked loud enough for the blob to suddenly jerk and avert it's attention towards the two, giving off a shriek as it's body shivered at the sight of live meat.

_-Shit!-_

Jody suddenly screamed as Liv turned only to be bum rushed by a corpse who decided to patiently wait outside for the two. The only thing keeping the corpse from biting Liv's face was his forearm tucked tightly under it's chin. Warm, sickly, rotting breath washed over the officer's strained face, meriting a gag from him as he struggled and fought against the zombie. Eventually, the two tumbled to the ground in an epic struggle as the slime began to lurch closer, hissing and gurgling.

Great. The stronger that chemical smell was, the closer the slime came..and then it would eat the both of them AND Jody would be killed as well. At this point, Liv began to grow angry. This was ridiculous. They didn't even make it out of the goddamn hospital and here he was about to be digested by a giant, chemically enhanced Lugie.

"N-No!"

Just as he was about to accept his fate, he heard another cry—a war cry he didn't expect and the corpse was violently thrown off of him with a loud crash. Chunks of wood scattered off into different directions and he was quickly pulled up to his feet just as the slime suddenly took interest in the vulnerable, twitching corpse.

Jody tossed what remained of the backing of the chair aside. Alright, maybe she got over the 'killing her own patient' thing faster than he thought she would. "Let's go! Please!" she begged with eyes threatening to bulge out of their sockets. Throwing open the door this time, he noticed that the other five zombies suddenly took interest in the action and shambled their way down the hall. Knowing that the slime was busy, they had some time…But not as much as he'd like to have.

"C'mon!" he commanded and ran ahead, dispatching three out of five zombies with easy headshots. The other two were spaced out enough for Liv to charge head-on, hands balling up into tight fists. He reared back and delivered a solid haymaker to the creature's jaw, sending stunned and stumbling back. Seizing the opportunity, he rushed again, grabbing a handful of it's greasy hair and smashed it face-first into the wall with a loud splat and crunch. It's jaw had already been broken from Liv's hard swing. Having the corpse's face suddenly smashed into the wall had completely tore it away and drop to the ground. The last zombie got a mouthful of Liv's barretta before it's blood and brains painted the once white-washed wall.

For now, the battle was over and Liv took a moment to give Jody a once-over. No bites? Good. Hair was askew—yes, but other than that, she was still in one piece. "You alright?" he asked with genuine concern. After all, she hadn't stopped shaking since they managed to peel themselves away from the security monitors…

"Y-Yeah…Just…Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Let's get back, okay?"

The two turned their heads towards the shriek that echoed throughout the hallway. The slime had left the security office a while back and continued to happily feast upon Liv's messy leftovers. Just the sight of it's insides visibly digesting a human corpse suddenly made him grab onto Jody's arm. "Sounds good to me. Besides, looks like I made this thing happy for now. Let's not piss it off."

Nodding in agreement, they both returned to the stairwell.


	7. CHapter VI

**Author's Note: Ahaaaa…XD Y-Yeah I'm gonna try to be more consistent from now on. When I looked back after my long-ass hiatus, I felt a little too boring with how the story was going. Well there was that and me catching up on writing again since I joined a really awesome story forum. I hope everyone enjoys the chapters like always. Criticism and comments are welcomed like always…Keep your flames to yourself. **

**By the way, you all probably noticed how I bumped the rating up to "mature". Reason is mainly because of this chapter…and if my Sadistic mind thinks up of anything far worse, it'll most likely be included. If you're really squeamish or extremely sensitive, then it's probably best you don't read this part or not read the story at all. I always think that in horrible situations like the Raccoon City Incident, that just because you're a child or a complete innocent, it doesn't guarantee you a ticket out of it. Like..LOL I dunno. You see those horror movies where there's all these monsters that kill off the military so EASILY and yet somehow, this 8 yr old kid outsmarts them and hides out somewhere until the main characters come by. It sorta makes me cringe on the inside. Anyway, enjoy the fic..and you have been warned!**

…**.**

"_BLEEEEGH!"_

"Aw bloody Christ!"

"James, help me hold him up!"

Thick streamers of yellow vomit hug from Mick's pale lips. He felt his stomach heave and heave again, painfully clenching his abdominal muscles as he waited in agony for the third hurl. His watery eyes examined his own vomit that splashed upon the rails far below them. How…disgusting it looked. Vomit wasn't normally that disgusting to Mick. Seeing and smelling the substance came along with his job. The O.D.s were always caked with foam, vomit, and powder outlining their noses. His however… How it thickly dribbled off the rail..How incredibly putrid it smelled…and how the streams of blood mixed thickly with the rotting yellow and mucus green… It was all too disgusting for him. He could've sworn the rail was sizzling beneath the vomit. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it were. The roof of his mouth burned with the acidic, bitter taste. He shivered at the realization of what was happening to him.

He was dying.

He could feel his body slowly shutting down on him. He felt so animated, so stiff when he moved and during the times he was forced to travel down the flight of stairs, it felt as if someone were pulling his puppet-like strings. Some flu. Hell, this felt like the flu times ten. How much longer was he going to have to deal with this? Minutes? Hours? A day? Every time he vomited his guts out or stumbled and missed a few stairs, he prayed death would come swiftly. He hoped he wouldn't feel it when it did happen, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought about what would happen after his death.

If those really were dead people walking around…Would he become one of them as well? Did they suffer as much as he was suffering right now? Would his body be walking around just like theirs without a soul? Or worse…Were their souls still trapped in their mangled, rotting corpses? He trembled again at the thought while Jody and James sat him down.

Even if he wanted his suffering to end, there was that fighting spirit still within him. He really didn't want to die. He wanted to see this through to the end, survive with Liv and the others and stay on to help others in need. There was so much to do and here he sat as his time spiraled down the drain.

"I…I can't stop the bleeding guys…"

"Wot do you mean you 'can't stop the bleeding'?"

"Exactly what I mean..no matter what I do, it just won't stop bleeding..I think I need some hemostats…That might help until I can figure out something else…"

Mick could barely hear Jody speaking towards the other men and settled his dead-like stare onto her as she used gauze after gauze to stop his wounds from gushing. Wounds…His gaze trailed down to the bloody mess…

Forget bloody. It was a rotting mess. His skin was so gray and papery-like, but along his wounds, it was a different story. The gray faded into a green, sickly pigment. Then it was a colorful batch of yellows and purples along the pus-filled wounds. What flesh was exposed within the gashes had darkened with decay. His blood could've been easily mistaken for black Ink. Watching the blood ooze thickly out from under the pressure Jody applied with the gauze made both Mick and James blanch.

"I…I'm gonna die down here…aren't I?" Mick said, his words slurred and slow.

Jody suddenly looked up towards Mick, a sadness evident in those pretty eyes. She felt so sorry for the man. He had to see his co-worker being eaten alive by those things and had gotten himself hurt to save Liv from the red-skinned creature. He didn't know that had cost him his life. None of them did at the time. She chewed upon her lower lip. She didn't know how much time the man had. At this rate…

"N-No! Don't say things like that. You're gonna make it. We just need some medication for you, that's all…" she blurted out with a weak smile and gently caressed his cheek. Good lord, his skin was ice cold…as if he really were dead.

If this kept going the way it was…Mick wasn't going to stand a chance…

Leaving Mick to rest and James to keep watch over him, she approached Liv, taking him to the farthest point away from the dying man resting against the rails. "…No matter what I do, I can't stop the bleeding..I-I can't explain it. It's just like the others…I ran out of gauze a-and…I don't know what more to do…" she murmured worriedly to the officer and struggled to refrain from biting her nails. She had been in contact with Mick's wound after all and god knows how contagious he now was. For all she knew, they all could be infected just from him breathing the same air they did. The thought of it twisted her gut. Best not to think like that for now…

Liv only sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as hot air burned through his nostrils. They couldn't afford to waste anymore of their precious time. For all they knew, zombies could be flooding into the parking lot as they stood and spoke, making it an impossible attempt to get to the van. Then again, he didn't have the heart in him to suddenly turn a cold shoulder to Mick's important needs. The man had saved his life after all…and as time flew by, it began to turn out that Mick had unknowingly traded his life for Liv's. It made him wonder…If Mick knew, would he have still did what he did to save the officer? It was a question Liv somewhat didn't want answered. Just like all the other thoughts that plagued his mind, that thought was stored into the back of his head. Other pressuring matters were at hand now.

Looking up to the large red numbering upon the wall and the door beside it told Liv that they had at least skipped two levels. They were on the fifth floor which meant they were getting closer and closer to their ticket out of here. "What's on this floor?" he suddenly asked Jody who in return gave him a puzzled look, "You said you needed more supplies and medicine, right? Isn't there some kind of supply room or something?"

Jody nodded, "This is the maternity ward. They get the entire floor to themselves…and yeah, there's a supply room." She paused, watching Liv as he silently began to contemplate. "You're thinking about going in there, aren't you?"

Liv rubbed his chin in thought before he began the process of checking his munitions. "Well, we don't have a choice. It's either we keep going and lose Mick…Or get the medicine and supplies he and all of us'll need. I'll go get the supplies. You and James stay with Mick," he spoke, not paying much attention to the frown beginning to surface upon Jody's face. "Let me come with you. You don't know your way—" she protested until he shook his head, his resolve clearly set in stone. "Not this time. Look, if Mick worsens, he'll need you here. You're better off staying here than being out there with me. Don't worry, I'll find my way around there."

She sighed and reluctantly nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, Liv was right on this one. It wasn't the possibility of slowing him down or getting in the way..It was the fact that her skills were better being used there in the stairwell. Judging from the look on Liv's face, no temper tantrum was going to work on him again. "…Alright…Just be careful in there…"

Finally. Some god-damn cooperation. Liv only smiled and ruffled up Jody's hair, ignoring the tsks and "hey!" thrown in between. Enough messing around though. He approached James this time, reaching down to lift up his right pant leg and revealed the small snub-nose revolver snuggled in it's holster. "Do you know how to use a gun?" he questioned James who in turn, scoffed with slight annoyance.

"Of _course _I know how to use a gun. What do you think I am, a brainless monkey?" the britt scowled and reared back once the revolver (pointed downward) was nearly shoved in his face. "HEY! Wotch where you're—"

Liv sighed irritably and pushed the gun into the angry man's good hand. "If you don't know why I'm giving this to you, then maybe you are a brainless monkey. Take it, dumbass. I need you to protect the two of them until I come back, alright?"

"Alroight, alright I get it! Just hurry up and get back in one fuckin' piece…" James grumbled and took the gun. It felt cold, heavy, and good in his hands.

"Whatever…"

….

Once again, he steeled himself for the unknown dangers hidden within the halls and rooms of the maternity ward. Unlike the other floors where he was lucky to have all the doors locked, these were not. Some were opened, some ajar, some were almost torn completely off of their hinges. Just like before, he knew well he had to stay on the alert.

_-Don't let your guard down, Liv. You do, you're dead.-_

That had become his mantra over the past few hours.

With that in mind, he cautiously started down the hall that looked as if a category three hurricane blasted it's way through there. Papers were scattered all along the tiled floors. Pictures meant to comfort the patients hung crookedly. Some were even knocked from the wall. Others had the glass smashed in, the cracks spiderwebbing from the obvious point of impact. Blood stained and smeared the white-washed walls and splattered along the tiled floors. The rooms he passed showed the same carnal décor he saw two floors up. Blood stained curtains..overturned beds, the occasional zombie that did nothing but stare at the walls. Since they didn't bother him, he figured it was best just to leave them to their business. He already had a goal and exterminating everything that smelled or looked like it had been dead for months was not on his list. He continued on.

The waiting room wasn't as bad as the main lobby, but it looked as if someone was pissed off enough to grab whatever they could get their hands on and went off on everything in sight. Chairs were thrown, others were smashed. What was left of a glass coffee table had been thrown against the wall. There was something different about the disarray within the waiting room. Unlike others that he had seen and was already growing accustomed to, blood and gore was the main theme. This looked like a struggle, a fight to which someone obviously had to have won second-best in the match. Pockmarks decorated the wall and dents within the elevator's steel frame were other reasons to think so. As he followed the trail of bullet holes and dents, his attention was immediately grabbed by the leg sandwiched between the elevator doors.

Maybe this was the person who took second place?

Liv swallowed hard and drew out his torch once again, clicking it on and aiming the strong beam of light upon the dirtied dress shoe. So far, it wasn't moving…Dead perhaps? Dead, dying, or still alive, but breathing, this man posed a potential threat just like everything else he stumbled across. He never thought in a million years that he'd consider dead people a dangerous threat. Still though, he had to investigate. There could be something of use hidden on the body. That, and curiosity began to pique again.

So the gun was holstered away and Liv poked his head through the small gap the doors gave away, beaming the torch onto the owner of this 'mysterious leg'. It was nothing but a man in a black pinstripe suit with a matching tie. Two gunshot wounds were fresh; both in the chest. Liv was actually surprised. He wasn't expecting see a full-bodied corpse attached to the leg. The torch traveled upward to the man's face which froze with not fear, but with a look of surprise. The officer frowned at the hole between the man's blonde brows. This man wasn't killed by the monsters lurking about within the hospital. Someone had murdered him in cold blood…and since the wounds glistened with wet blood, Liv's best guess was that the killer was still somewhere on this floor and Liv had to deal with him fast; one way or another. For all he knew, if he had left things the way they were, chances were that the killer would run into Jody, James, and Mick…and lord knows how his mindset was considering the bullet between the dead man's eyes. When situations were at their worst, people did whatever they needed to do. It was their survival instinct. Kill or be killed.

"Shit…"

As he began to back away, he nearly slipped on something. Looking down, it was a manila folder and it's contents crushed unmercifully beneath the heel of his sneaker. Beside it was a thick leather wallet. Removing his foot and kneeling down, he rummaged through the file first. It was information about a certain patient in the ward. Apparently, she had been attacked by a deranged man who somehow had broken into her house in Cider District. Two days later, she was remitted to the hospital after complaining about a high fever, migraines, and severe cramps. Paper-clipped to the patient's vital medical information, there was a picture of a pretty young blonde smiling. Her beautiful blue eyes were stunning.

"Laurie Beckett…Age twenty-four…" he murmured and dropped the papers. As much as he hated to admit it, she was probably dead too along with practically ninety-nine percent of the hospital's residents and staff. Useless information wasn't going to get him to where he needed to go. So why was this here in the trashed waiting room? Picking up the wallet ended up answering that question himself. He dug through the wallet and found pictures of the same woman inside…With two children and a man standing proudly beside his family. Driver's license?...There had to be one. Sure enough, there was one and the ID didn't match the dead man fermenting in the elevator.

"Charles Beckett…" he muttered the name and quickly put two and two together. Husband and wife…Perhaps more survivors? If so, then he and his own small party could expand just a bit and stand a better chance against whatever lurked outside the hospital. If there really were survivors, then Liv should really pick up the pace. Leaving the wallet and file behind, he continued on.

…..

"So? Why're you trusting that…Barbarian? Did you forget what he did to us six months ago?"

"I _know_ that, James…But what choice do we have? We _have_ none!...and he isn't a barbarian."

"We DO have a choice! Hell, We'd probably be better off on our own! He's DANGEROUS, can't you see that!"

Mick's eyes opened to splashes of color and distorted blobs that bickered and fought. Their raised voices rang loudly in his ears and when the smaller blob shouted louder, he winced and recoiled. Their voices were no different than nails constantly raking down a chalkboard. For all he knew, they could've somehow dragged one of them in there and started to scratch the hell out of it. If only they would shut the hell up, he'd get the god-damn sleep he deserved.

_-Why'd I have to get stuck with these two? Oh, right…because I'm apparently rotting from the inside out, that's why…-_

Mick didn't bother moving from his corner. In the stairwell, it was the farthest he could get from the noisiest argument he had ever been caught in. Well, maybe not the noisiest, but to him at the moment, it may as well have been. He was exhausted..Worn-out…He felt like the last remnants of butter from an empty tub being scraped over more bread than he could cover. So tired…He craved for a few minutes of shut-eye…If only…

_-If only they would shut the hell up…-_

He watched the taller blob, watching the little blur move on what appeared to be his face, shouting all kinds of nonsense to the smaller being. He knew what the blob was saying was supposed to be english. He knew he was supposed to understand what was being said, but for some reason, he couldn't comprehend. Was he _that_ out of it? Maybe it was for the best…After all, he didn't like the prick just as much as Liv did. Speaking of the kid…where was he anyway?

"Yeah? Well maybe I was wrong about you! Maybe—"

And suddenly, there were no more shouts as if someone had pressed the mute button on the T.V. Remote. He could see their mouths move and the aggressive body language between the blobs…But no other sound further ensued other than the slowing heartbeat that thumped in his ears. Mick struggled to have a double-take of this. Really? Did god finally grant his wish? Thank Christ. He would've sighed, but his chest burned too much to do so. Well, out of this entire mess, god finally granted one out of the million wishes he had throughout his lifetime; Peace and quiet.

_-Finally…Maybe now I can sleep…-_

His vision began to darken…Or was that his eyes closing?

_-Yeah…Sleep would be nice..Just a little…-_

The pain began to fade from his ravaged body, leaving him in a sweet bliss of numbness. His dried lips crackled and bled as he managed a smile.

_-It feels so much better…-_

And finally, his gaze dropped onto his feet…or that's what he figured anyway. Oh well…What the hell. Sleep was finally coming…It called him, beckoned him, and he couldn't fight off the temptation any longer.

_-Finally…I can sleep…-_

Darkness had finally claimed the morgue assistant. It took away the pain, the fear, all of the doubtful thoughts and questions in his mind. It took everything away and gave back something in return; Peace.

_-Peace…-_

His last breath escaped in a soft sigh and his body slumped against the wall. Mick was no more.

…

This floor was larger than he expected. So many rooms…Christ. He had a mind to check every single one, but that would be so time-consuming. God-Damnit…At this rate, he'd be stuck here forever! The thought irritated him as he quickened his pace down yet another hallway that looked almost the same as all the other hallways he had passed through—No wait. This one was different…

The left side of the hallway was nothing but observation glass…glass smeared with blood anyway. "…This..is where they show the babies…" he muttered to himself with a nervous gulp and a painful twist in his gut began to make itself known.

_-The babies…Oh god…-_

Out of all the residents in Raccoon City, Children and Infants were completely defenseless. How could they? All they could do is run, scream and cry…or just lay there and unknowingly wait for the inevitable in this case. Oh god…He prayed that the place was all locked up. He could keep them there for the moment…Maybe get to the police station and get a better car..Maybe load up all the babies…

The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous and damn near impossible it sounded. He could imagine him now. _Liv Tremmain, Raccoon City Police Officer and Baby saver who whooshed down to the hospital and loaded up piles of babies into his back seat…Then he'd drive like a bat out of hell out of the City and save the day! _Too bad reality couldn't give him a break these days. He swallowed hard and felt his quivering knuckles whiten from the tightened grip upon his gun.

_-Just walk past…You know those babies aren't alive…Maybe the staff was smart enough to evacuate them before all of this shit happened…-_

Just standing there in that hallway was making it harder for him to breathe. There was that worm buried in the pits of his stomach, chewing through the pain that threatened to bubble bile into his mouth. The more he hoped, the more he felt himself straying away from reality and sanity.

_-Calm down…You can do this…Just don't look.-_

"Okay…" he muttered and after a hesitant step, he continued down the hall. He continued through halfway, noticing that two more corpses decided to do something more productive than stare at the walls of their rooms and lumbered out into the hallway to keep Liv some company. One was a doctor shredded from head to toe, his arms outstretched towards the officer as thick globs of pink saliva seeped from the corner of his mouth and dribbled onto his already blood-stained coat. He was easy to dispatch with a single headshot. The other however…

It was a woman; A pregnant woman. Her pink hospital gown was soaked through with blood—more so around her midsection which looked…Funny. Weren't their bellies supposed to be round? Well then again, she wasn't supposed to look as if a bear had savaged her body in the first place. Unlike most of the undead he encountered, the woman looked more…decayed than the others. Was it possible that she was dead and no one had known about it?

The creature suddenly outstretched it's arms longingly for the officer as a gurgling moan escaped it's torn lips. Leather cuffs hung loosely from her skinny raw wrists.

_-What the fuck?...-_

Apparently, he was wrong. Someone _did_ know…It was just that they didn't _want_ anyone finding out about it. As Liv began to back up against the glass, the woman's deformed stomach twitched and lurched, twisting beneath the think, soaked fabric of her gown. It immediately caught his attention. Oh god…What could it possibly be now?

The bulge of her stomach grew bigger..and bigger…and suddenly, something dropped between the woman's stiff legs with a wet _splat_ on the floor.

_-Oh god…-_

He forced himself to look down and immediately, he plastered himself against the glass and nearly dropped his gun.

_-No…nonononoNONO! This CAN'T be happening!-_

Intestines sprawled out onto the floor along with a few organs that piled on top of the bloodied mess…and the woman didn't respond to it! But of course she didn't…she was dead, right! She was fucking dead…

Then again, the dead weren't supposed to be walking around…or trying to eat his face off whenever they got the chance.

_Squish._

Liv blanched and gritted his teeth at the sight of her stepping onto her own stomach that popped like a water balloon filled with sewage. Stomach acids and chunks of undigested flesh oozed out and mixed with the thickened blood that pooled at her feet. The smell alone made Liv's eyes involuntarily water for the second time that day.

Suddenly, she slipped and got her ankles tangled in her own intestines and she fell, her face cracking first onto the tile before her body followed suit, dropping down like a sack of potatoes. It was pathetic to see her start to squirm onto the floor…and even more so when she began to crawl towards him, gnashing her teeth in the want to fill the void which was once her stomach with his flesh. Liv frowned, his bottom lip quivering as he leveled his pistol.

_BANG._

Her forehead unceremoniously dropped back onto the tile and she ceased movement altogether. No, wait…her foot was twitching. Other than that, he sighed and relaxed against the glass. The woman was in a better place…Yeah, in a way better place than this shithole. How…How did he end up in this mess? How did everyone end up in this mess in the first place? Raccoon City was filled with nothing but a bunch of simple people living a simple life. Just ho—

**SLAM!**

He literally jumped out of his skin and threw himself back from the glass, screaming as he lost his footing and crashed right over the rotting corpse he had put down just five seconds ago. At least she provided some cushion, but it didn't save his elbow or the back of his head. White hot pain shot up through his forearm, causing him to drop his gun and cry out. The back of his head hurt so much…All of this caused by some dead fuck who now smashed his face against the window like he'd see kids do when passing by family cars.

_-…SON of a BITCH.-_

All of the curses he could muster up now were being grumbled under his breath while he forced himself up onto his feet. God-Damnit…He hit his funny bone—of all places and times, he had to do that now. Really, there wasn't anything funny about the god-damn thing. What was funny at the moment was once Liv picked up his gun, the zombie behind the glass suddenly lost interest and shambled off elsewhere. Stupid zombies…Stupid fuckin' hospital… He brought out his torch once again and shone light through the glass.

For the third time that day, he wished he hadn't. Little did he know, this was going to be a reoccurring theme.

On the other side of the room, words were scrawled in blood upon the walls. Various heartbreaking messages were chicken-scratched in what Liv guessed was most likely their own blood or someone elses. Some wrote short wills, others begged and pleaded for help…But there was one message larger than the others. He grimaced at the thought of how the culprit wrote it. Was it with his own hand or…a giant paint brush.

"THE DOCTOR WON'T LET US OUT"

Liv dared himself to approach the glass once again, guiding the torch light onto the first thing he saw; a zombie hunched over in the far corner of the room…_eating_ something he couldn't see. He then guided the light over the rows of the small beds made for the newborns. As his eyes roamed over what the torch revealed, the smell of rotting blood smelled…stronger for some odd reason. He didn't even know his mouth was hanging open…Nor did he feel the heavy torch slip from his hands and clatter to the ground.

Blood soaked every pink and blue bedding he could see. One zombie also hunched over a bedding as if he were snacking on a simple finger-food T.V. dinner. Other beddings, bodies were missing, but a small finger or a piece of god-knows-what remained. Innocent newborns…Boys and Girls…Once those things were locked in there, those innocent babies were left to their gruesome fate. Why would anyone do this?...

He could hear them now…The squeals and screams pierced through his thoughts. Their screams…

His vision doubled and he staggered back, nearly slipping on the slick blood that still freshly coated the tiled floor. He felt so lightheaded…

_-Calm down, Tremmain!-_

But no matter how many times that voice in his head screamed at him to get a hold of his nerves, it only worsened the nausea that slammed home in his stomach. He felt his inside squirming and clenching…and the babies…they wouldn't stop screaming…

_-Breathe! Breathe, Damnit! BREATHE!-_

But he couldn't. Finally, he managed to drunkenly stumble over towards a nearby waste bin and emptied all the cheap microwavable waffles he had for breakfast from his stomach. He felt himself heave and heave again and he damned his body for turning against him and making this purging process the most painful and uncomfortable. Vomit had always tasted so bad—especially when there was nothing to puke up but the stomach acids that simply refused to stay down. He felt his body grow weak and literally found himself clinging to the waste bin as if it were his last lifeline. Eventually, the dry heaves came and went, leaving Liv to buckle upon his knees until he felt something that wasn't associated with nausea or the idea of eaten infants.

Footsteps…That abruptly stopped behind him.

He quickly wiped away the remaining stringers of vomit and turned only to get a view of black polished dress shoes and a face-full of Fire Extinguisher to the face.

His world went black.

…..

"I can't believe you just said that to me," Jody scowled with arms crossed. They had been arguing the entire time in the stairwell. Maybe in a way, it was a good thing. That way, they wouldn't be fighting along the way and irritating Liv in the process…Or worse, they'd be too distracted and wind up dead on the street just like everyone else. She could feel the sting of tears threatening to rise. Oh no, she wouldn't give James the satisfaction. Speaking of the man, he only scowled and scoffed back. How could he be this way? Of all times, he had to pick now when they were stuck in a hospital surrounded by monsters? "You really can be an ass, you know that?" her arms uncrossed and knuckles rested upon hips, "Of all times to be an ass, you pick now just because my _ex_ is protecting us? Well heads up, buddy, we don't have a choice in the matter! Or do you think you can do everything by yourself? Is that it?"

James honestly didn't care. He hated the prick so much…and yes, every time he looked at that barbarian, he felt the familiar pains shoot up his foot. Too bad it couldn't be just a happy memory. No, he still couldn't let that go. How could anyone? "Oh don' turn this around on me, Jody. I know now that you're still in love with that prick! I can feel it!"

The more he talked, the more anger flared up inside the young brunette. She felt her nails digging into her palms…her heart began to thump harder against her chest.

"Yeah, I can definitely feel it alrigh'! Wot, are you getting mad now? Did I hit the nail on yer head?"

She couldn't believe this…

"You just wanted to use me to get back at him, weren't you? That's it, isn't it? All you wanted me for was a good fu—"

Jody had slapped him so hard, the resounding 'smack' lingered for a few seconds and a nasty red mark began to color itself nicely upon James' cheek. The man looked shocked and looked back down to the nurse who huffed and puffed as if she put her best efforts into her bitch-slap. "If that's what you think…Then you don't even know me at all…" Jody calmly let that spill from her quivering lips. She couldn't help it now. The tears were beginning to build and soon she felt them roll down her cheeks. Sticks and stones, she would always tell people…But the sticks and stones James threw at her…

They _stung_…

"…And you can go to hell for all I care," she added that last bit and noticed something odd about James' expression. No, he didn't look as if he were hurt or about to burst into tears or anything of the sort. Instead, there was another expression, an expression she didn't expect to see after she slapped him; Fear. Of course, anger always blinded people and Jody was no exception. "What did you expect, huh? Are you listening? Do you even fucking care!" She felt her temper rising again until he hastily pulled out the snub-nose revolver that Liv had left him with. She suddenly flinched and felt her face fall. Her heart now raced faster than ever.

"Wh-What're you doing!"

A/N: LAAAWL Cliffhangers FTW. I decided to leave it at that 'cause it's long enough as it is. I'm still rolling with it so…expect another update soon! I hope my readers enjoyed this chapter.


	8. Chapter VII

_The engine kept running as he sat in his Jeep, staring at the cheap hotel complex. Snow had caked onto the bottom of his windshield and coated the hood. The windshield wipers batted away the sprinkling snow with ease to smash them with the rest of the snow that had gathered for the past half hour. A half hour?...Was that all? He looked down at the time displayed just below the radio. A quarter after twelve…_

_-Just turn away, Liv…Just turn around…and drive back home.-_

_He began squeezing the steering wheel, the leather groaning in protest under his off and on grip. Of all places…Here? He ground his teeth, debating upon the choices that floated in his head and combated against his conscience that screamed at him to turn away. His brows narrowed and he wiped away the beads of sweat forming upon his head despite the heater being turned off. His heart was pounding and already, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins._

_-You don't need to see this. You know you don't.-_

"_But I have to…"_

_-You won't like what you see. You already know that.-_

_True, he had a sinking feeling for the past two months. She'd always come home late…Always…and the excuse was 'overtime'. Heh, overtime his ass. But what if he was wrong? What if he was wrong about everything he suspected? _

_-Just turn around…-_

_So he did. He backed the Jeep out of the parking lot and began to drive away…_

….

Groaning…He could hear groaning…

"Mmm…"

Why couldn't he move? Why did his head hurt so much?...

"…You shouldn't have come here, officer."

Who was that? Finally after what felt like a hundred years, he began to open his eyes to a world of blur and hurt. For some reason, everything was green. Why? He didn't know until he adjusted his vision on a couple of large emergency glow sticks scattered everywhere. Not two feet in front of him, someone was writhing and squirming upon the hospital bed, but he couldn't make out who. One thing for sure though, this person stank to high heaven._ Almost as if they had been sleeping with corpses for weeks. _

"Who'reyou…" Liv managed to slur and winced at the pain that roared in his temple. That's right…Someone had slugged him in the face with something…But why? It's not like Liv was on execution duty and only came to finish off whatever poor bastard that managed to survive. He could feel the sticky warmth of his blood that trailed down the side of his head and gelled on the back of his ear. One hell of a hit, he concurred. It was enough to make Liv absolutely clueless when it came to figuring which way was up again. If he wasn't the one smacked upside the head with the butt end of a fire extinguisher, he'd give this guy a handshake. Right now, a fist to the face seemed more appropriate. Just as he moved to get himself out of the uncomfortable wooden chair, horror dawned upon him. He couldn't move…and once he adjusted his vision and looked down, he could easily see why.

Somehow, the culprit of Liv's massive headache had found tape and bound him to the chair in the best, most thorough way possible. His hands were bound tight to the arms of his chair and feet were bound to the legs of it as well. Great. Now he was under the mercy of this stupid fuck that may as well have screwed up the chances of surviving for them all. How much time had passed? Were James and Jody still in the stairwell? Or did they write him off as dead already and went without him? Shit…and what about Mick?...

"Doesn't matter who I am. My name will be useless to you very soon…"

What? What the hell did that meant? His brows furrowed as he struggled in his chair. Damn, just how many rolls of tape did the guy use? Liv's wrist squirmed in a feeble attempt to somehow loosen them. Nothing happened of course which infuriated the young officer.

"What the fuck're you gonna do?..." Liv snarled and thrashed in his binds again, meriting a chuckle from the man unseen. He could hear whomever it was tinkering with things..Metallic things? It didn't take long to realize what this man had in mind for him…But why cut him up?

_GROOOOOAAAN…_

And who the fuck was moaning like that? Once he looked up and his vision finally cleared, he gasped and plastered himself to the chair as much as possible.

On the hospital bed was a woman—a woman who was dead. Very dead. Dead to the point where skin had already began sloughing off her face. Chunks of flesh were missing beneath the leather restraints from her fighting against them for god knows how long. Speaking of time…How long had it been since…since she had died? Who was she? As she began to lurch forward for the young officer, he immediately saw past her rotting face and recognition dawned upon him. Despite the missing clumps of what was once rich and silky blonde hair…down to the facial features he imagined on her…

_-It's that girl…Lauren Beckett…Oh god…-_

Yellowed teeth clicked over and over again as she gnashed her jaws and longingly outstretched her rotting hands towards the horrified officer.

"What the…What the fuck!"

He only heard the man tisk and chuckle as if he had only heard a corny joke that lacked a good punch line. "Now don't be so rude…That's my wife you're talking to. I'm sure she doesn't appreciate your lack of manners…" the man said and tinkered with something yet again. Soon, he turned upon his polished dress shoes and casually strolled to Liv's side, setting a tray containing a lovely assortment of medical instruments that Liv really didn't want to be seeing. The man himself looked of professional stature. Slicked back brunette hair, glasses, white undershirt with tie…Black slacks…Perhaps the only thing startling about the doctor was the bloodstains and spatter upon his once pristine white coat and the…calm expression the man carried. Did he not know what the hell was going on?

Liv only growled as the man smiled. "Your wife is fucking dead! You KNOW that! You already know you can't help her!" he snarled and struggled in his chair. The more he struggled, the more he felt the left chair-leg beginning to give way.

The doctor mused over the officer's anger and turned around. "But she's not dead, don't you see? The virus…It re-animates any and all organisms that die. It's truly a blessing in disguise…I thought I had lost her. Her body was always so weak…The virus though. It brought her back!," he continued and looked down towards what was once his wife, smiling warmly as she struggled to grab his sleeve.

Liv's mood quickly went from anger to…confusion. "Virus?...Is that what it is? What the fuck is going on? Tell me!" The doctor only smiled and edged away from his dead wife's desperate hands and leaned against the nightstand. He picked out a scalpel from the various instruments he hand-selected, eyeing at the razor sharp blade. "The T-Virus, one of the greatest creations in viral weaponry…It's amazing, isn't it?"

Liv only frowned in return. This guy was a nut case. An absolute nut case…If this guy thought he was going to get to feed his dead body to that 'thing' he called his wife, then the Doc better think again. "Well…Why don't you 'enlighten' me. What's so amazing about this 'virus'…Doctor Beckett?" Liv scoffed. He had to buy some time.

Said Doctor looked surprised at the officer who already knew far too much about him. How did he know? Well…Then again, he didn't bother to retrieve the stolen information from that piece of scum director. What would be the purpose of that anyway? The man was dead and he didn't think anyone else in the hospital remained alive…Well, in a non intellectual way. No, It didn't matter. His wife was going to have a hearty dinner now, problem solved. " I see you ran into the late Mr. Bower. It's such a shame, really. He was a nice fellow," the doctor calmly replied as he plunged a syringe into a small vial, extracting the goods he needed. There was a pause though as he reflected back on the late director…and a smile found a way onto his face. He simply shrugged and flicked the needle, carefully pushing out what little bubbles remained in the syringe, "Well, he used to be."

"Then why did you kill him?"

Liv heard the doctor huff. Obviously reflecting upon the deceased Bower had agitated him. "I almost lost my Lauren because of that man. He wanted me to 'dispose' of her body, send it down to the morgue the day she died. No, I locked her up here…He never knew that I had her here until today," he replied as If this were nothing but a mere conversation over coffee. It gave Liv the chills. Once the doctor turned and revealed the thick needle in his hand, Liv instantly stiffened in his chair. If he let that bastard inject him with whatever the hell was in that needle, he'd be finished. For all he knew, there could've been a mixture of some 'instant-death' serum inside it or some paralytic stuff that numbed his body. The idea of being paralyzed and watching someone cut out chunks of him to feed to some dead wife was something he definitely didn't want to imagine. Judging from the churning of his stomach, the organ had to agree.

Suddenly, the doctor's face twisted with a psychotic rage. His jaw clenched as he recalled the recent events that transpired. From the director discovering what he had kept secret for so long…To where the man even pointed a gun at the love of his life…Down to where they threw themselves out into the hallway where he was victorious.

"Don't you understand? He was going to kill her! My WIFE!...And for _what!_" The doctor shrieked into Liv's face. Beckett could feel his blood boiling..But was it really from anger? Or was it the fact that he had such dominance over someone who _used _to hold authority over this city? "Nothing! We were fine until he decided to stick his abnormally fat nose in where it doesn't belong!"

Liv took in a deep breath and fixed his gaze upon the mess of a man that loomed over him. "Look, Doctor…I can help you…I can help you get out of here, but only if you let me…" he calmly spoke and soon found his words trailing off as a crazed grin soon spread across the doctor's face.

"Officer...You don't understand. This is where I belong…Where my wife and I belong. There's nothing else for us out there; nothing for me..My wife and son are the only things I now have left in this world!"

_-Wait a minute…-_

Liv's blood ran cold the moment he heard it. His wife was obvious…But…Son? He slowly shook his head in disbelief. "Don't…You didn't…" he muttered only to have the irate man laugh in his face, losing the once pristine, professionalism he once carried when Liv first came to.

"The virus blesses everything it touches…including my unborn son…"

…..

"What the hell? Put that thing away!" Jody shouted as her frightened gaze never left the quivering barrel that was now leveled in her direction. What in the hell was James thinking? She began to step back from him now, holding up her hands as if they could somehow provide a shield against a speeding bullet, but James suddenly lurched forward, grabbing the small nurse and dragging her back to his side.

"Get the hell away from it! Look, you bloody idiot!"

Jody immediately stopped struggling against his grasp and finally looked towards the opposite corner of the stairwell. Mick had somehow risen to his feet while the two were arguing. God knows when or how he did it, but he somehow did it without a sound. Maybe he finally found the strength to move on! She beamed a little and moved to pry Jame's tight grip upon her wrist. "_You're_ the idiot. It's only Mick. We probably woke him…up," she soon frowned and gasped as he still retained that iron tight grip and yanked her back. "The hell's a matter with you? I need to—"

James never lifted his gaze from the sick man who stood in his corner. The man's head was down and he swayed slightly in place. Since when did he get up? And why wasn't he talking? Sure it would be a joyous thing to see someone miraculously come out of their sickness and hop, skip, and jump around, but…

He shook his head. "No…Something isn't roight about him…He could barely stand on his own ten minutes ago…"

Jody looked up to James then back to Mick and her face soon soured into a scowl. "So you're just gonna shoot him? Let GO of me!" she snapped and tore her wrist free from his grasp. Even when James protested, she approached the Ill anomaly in the corner. "Mick?...You…You shouldn't be on your feet right now…"

No response.

She stepped closer.

"…Mick?..."

Only when she was within a foot of him, did she notice how pale his once tanned skin was. It was a sickly, grey pigment like old leather. A horrible smell radiated from him, but the pinpoint source was the gauze that wrapped up his wound. It was stained with blood and yellow masses of infected pus and sagged just enough to show the black, purple, and blue rot that was once his forearm.

Maybe James was right…Maybe there was something wrong…

"M-Mick…?" she began to shrink back as the man slowly lifted his head.

James' heart began to race as he now saw the face of the man he once helped. "Jody get back!"

The nurse froze in place, her eyes as wide as a deer's who got caught in someone's headlights. The man before her was no longer the Mick she was familiar with. The strong, tanned like complexion he carried in life was now reduced to nothing but a pale, deathly face. His cheeks were gaunt, his face just as grey as the rest of his skin. A thick streamer of blood dribbled from the corner of his crackling lips. The wrinkles of his skin stretched and contorted as the man finally opened his eyes, revealing nothing but faded irises and the sickly yellow stains that somehow settled in.

Jody shook like a little leaf, unable to move away from the monstrosity she used to consider as a friend.

_-N-No…-_

Dead, empty irises suddenly locked onto the fragile female and the man's rotten mouth finally opened, unleashing a ghastly moan that sent shivers down the two survivor's spines.

"Jody get away from him…"

"I…I can't…"

Without warning, the man known as Mick suddenly lunged for her with a speed the two didn't expect. Jody screamed.

"Jody NO!"

…..

_-..His unborn son…-_

This all felt like a bad dream. A really bad dream. He almost wished he was that fucked up in the head and this was nothing but his own twisted imagination. He knew that it was only wishful thinking and that his current situation was very, very real. Suddenly, the anger began to boil up inside of him again. How could this man go so horribly wrong? "You…SICK—" he growled and threw his head forward, smashing his forehead right into the doctor's nose. His world exploded into stars as the crazed doctor stumbled back with his own world exploding into a mess of blood from his now broken nose. Even though the room swam before him, it was well worth it. The scumbag got what he deserved! Said scumbag's arms flailed and swatted one of the medical trays he had upon the nightstand, catapulting the medical instruments and scattering them across the small room.

Suddenly, the wobbly left chair leg finally snapped off, sending the poor officer crashing to the floor. He smashed ontop of both pieces of the now broken chair and his left arm, sending shocks of pain down along his side. Well…the good news was, his arm was free. Bad news, his other limbs were still taped against the rest of the still intact chair.

"Nnugh!" Blood spurted from the doctor's nostrils, but he made no attempt to stop the bleeding. Instead, he focused on the source of his pain; the ingrate groaning on the floor while blood dribbled from his chin and stained the front of his shirt. "You imbecile! Do you really think I care about your impudent opinions? I could give a shit about them!" the doctor hissed, knowing now that the needle he once carried had broken when he dropped it out of pain and surprise. "I'm doing this for—"

"For what? Your family is dead!" Liv shouted back and tore his gaze away from the doctor and down onto the floor. God must've been there for him because just within reach was a scalpel he could use to cut himself free. "You kept them alive for your own fucking selfish reasons! For that, they suffer!"

"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" the doctor's face darkened again, but this time with a twinge of denial.

"IT'S YOU WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND! What's dead should be left DEAD!"

**-SNAP-**

Liv looked past the doctor, his eyes widening in terror as Lauren's leather restraint finally gave way and snapped. Her leathery, rotting hand rose above the doctor's head and suddenly shot to clamp down upon the back of his neck.

Startled and horrified, he turned his gaze upon Lauren who now began to pull him closer with strength he never knew she had. "L-Lauren! Sweetie no! I'm sorry! I'll give you something to eat!" the doctor begged and pleaded, struggling against his dead wife who only gurgled at his protests. For a moment, Liv thought she was laughing at him. "PLEASE! I-I did it because I LOVE YOU! NO!"

_-Shit! Once he's finished, I'm next!-_

It was tough to tear his gaze away, but he finally did and squirmed to free his left arm out from under him. The scalpel was snatched and he was quick to cut away at the tape. It was even harder to ignore the doctor's screams or the sound of crunching flesh as she chomped down onto his shoulder. He could hear the flesh rip, his coat tear, and the high pitched scream of a man being eaten alive by someone who he loved. He almost sliced into his ankle as he worked through the last of the tape.

By the time he ripped the tape away, the doctor stopped screaming, having Lauren's obnoxious chewing and smacking fill the room. Seeing as she currently had her hands (and mouth) full, he went in search of his gun. So far, the room turned up empty. It wasn't in the nightstand..Nor piled in the corner…He didn't bother to search through the limbs and various uneaten body parts in the bathtub. It was only when he returned, did he notice a bulge in the doctor's coat pocket and no, it wasn't _that._

_-Go figure. There has to be some point in my life where I've gotta search a dead man's body…well..at least I don't have to go digging through his trousers.-_

Awkward indeed. He stood before Lauren who began to work her way through his neck, chomping, chewing and smacking hungrily as she fed. The doctor's bewildered gaze forever remained frozen upon the ceiling. He looked…Very surprised. Then again, he wasn't expecting to be his own wife's main course. Neither did Liv.

He took a deep breath and closed in upon Lauren and her meal, flinching the moment she began to growl like a bulldog guarding her bone…Or piece of meat in this case. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to retrieve his gun since it was located in the lower pocket of his coat and with the man's lower half hanging off the bed, Liv was well out of Lauren's reach. Another added bonus was that the doctor was kind enough to pick up his torch as well; even if it was to benefit only himself. He quickly backed away just in case. After all, luck seemed to pass and go now these days. 

He watched as Lauren soon forgot about the warm body in her deathly grasp and soon outstretched bony, rotting fingers towards the officer and emitted pitiful moans that only broke the man further.

_-How can ordinary people go so wrong?...-_

Not being able to stand the sight of her any longer, he turned and finally walked out of the room. Suddenly, his jumbling thoughts were interrupted by a series of faint 'pops'. That could only mean…

"Shit! Jody!"

Rejuvenated with another rush of adrenaline, he sprinted back down the halls as fast as he could. He ignored all of the carnage, destruction, and gruesome sights the halls had to behold and even bum-rushed past the undead that finally discovered they could leave the confinements of their rooms. Nothing else mattered right now.

He turned down the last hallway, sprinting once again as he heard two more muffled gunshots. Someone screamed.

_-Please…PLEASE be okay!-_

He threw himself against the emergency door and tried to open it only to find it locked. Shit! That's right, he told them to lock it after he left! His fists collided with the door and he shouted to the top of his burning lungs for someone to open the god-damn door! Suddenly, he heard another gunshot and something heavy tumble down a flight of stairs. Silence filled the air again, devastating the young officer. What was going on in there?...No, they had to be okay, right? He pounded on the door once again with an aching fist until the heavy door suddenly swung open, welcoming the stumbling officer into the stairwell.

"Took you long enough, asshole!"

Liv whirled around, catching James pushing the door closed and noticed his cast had blood smeared upon it…along with a indent of someone's teeth trying to break into it. Jody was right behind him, cowering and trembling. Blood had spattered onto the front of her shirt and even some in her hair. The two looked like they had gone through hell in back, but why?...

His gaze eventually fell upon the blood smeared floor and drifted towards the bottom of the stairs. Sure enough, something big and heavy fell down them. There was the coroner's assistant, tangled up in his own broken limbs and soaking in a pool of blood beneath his body. Liv was relieved to find Mick laying face down. As if seeing a dead pregnant woman's face wasn't enough…

_-His head cracked open…Probably from going down head first…which means he was probably thrown or pushed…for good reason.-_

James finally spoke up as he rubbed Jody's shoulders in comfort. "Mick…tried to attack Jody. He looked like one of those things so…I had no choice. I'm…Sorry Liv," he sighed, "He tried…biting her!...And tried biting—"

"Did he bite either of you?"

James perked a brow at Liv's question. "N-No…Well, he got my cast…" James muttered and looked down at the extensive damage. The bitemark was evident along with the deep indent it caused. Cracks lined along the white cast and blood smeared along the surface. "But he couldn't bite through it…Good christ, thank god I had this…But why're you asking?"

"Because I think that's how this stuff spreads. It spreads through bites…"

"But Mick wasn't bitten. He was scratched…Don't tell me even a scratch could…"

Liv only stared at James who in turn leaned against the door and thumped the back of his head against it. "Good god…This is insane..."

Jody only slid down the wall beside James and curled into herself, shivering and on the verge of tears once again. "One bite…Just one _scratch _from these things…and we're done for…We'll be just like them…"

_-Just like them…-_

The thought repeated in his mind over and over. It seemed like a one-in-a-million chance that they were going to make it. The entire population by now was slowly dwindling…Well not dwindling—More like becoming infected. Everything seemed so bleak for the three, so impossible for them to accomplish…

"Seems that way. That's probably how the infection spread so fast…" Liv sighed and leaned against the railing, "It's a virus."

Jody and James looked to Liv now. Jody spoke up first.

"A..Virus? How do you know that?..." She quipped and soon realized that Liv was almost covered from head to toe in blood. Her eyes widened. "W-What happened back there? Why're you covered in blood!"

Liv felt his chest tighten as saw the image of Lauren, her beautiful face slowly beginning to rot away…Her bony fingers reaching out to him…

_-My unborn son…-_

His jaw tightened and he glared at the two, wanting to change the subject. "Look, we don't have time to sit around. I know it's scary…But I'd rather die trying than sitting in some fuckin' stairwell. Let's **go**," he growled and pushed off the railing, heading down the stairs before the two had anytime to object.

…

The rest of the time was (thankfully) uneventful. It was a rough start trying to get past Mick's broken and battered body, fearing that he might just get up and claw at their legs and…Mournful over the fact that they had no choice but to turn against him—someone who had saved someone's life and sacrificed their own. Liv felt most of the pain—especially since he was the one to go through Mick's pockets to find the spare keys for the van. _–So much for not having to go through a dead man's trousers.- _Not only that, but people were relying on him. Jody was relying on him to get to safety and that's what he planned on doing.

_-No need to feel sorry for myself…I have plenty of time to do that later once we're out of here.-_

**AN: You know, I love how Life likes to screw me over. Rofl everytime I get on the ball with something, SOMETHING happens. –sigh- like always, life's been too hectic for me to even put something down on paper. I didn't have my computer with me for a couple months because my mother kept it for her own selfish reasons…But I'm not gonna dive into my problems. I hope people enjoy this chapter and…x_x I'll post up again whenever I can.**


	9. Chapter VIII

Nothing was said between the three as they continued their way down the stairwell. Jody and James somewhat lagged behind Liv's quickened pace. The officer hadn't bothered to slow down nor turn around and tell them to hurry the hell up. Liv was stuck in his thoughts; one of them being that he really needed to get the fuck out of here…and in the future, call for a _nurse_ for home treatment.

_-Fuck hospitals…Fuck Doctors…Why does Jody even want to be one anyway?-_

Two floors above the parking lot and he almost started to laugh to himself. He loved how he was _assuming _that he'd get out of this alive and even contemplated on what his plans were in the future. He'd get as far away from here as possible. Vegas sounded nice…Or maybe even Hawaii…

_-Anywhere but here. I'd rather be sipping on coconuts and staring at tits than sit anywhere near a god-damn forest.-_

At last, they had finally reached the very bottom which of course forced him to stop and wait for the two to catch up. They were two floors behind him. Was he really that distracted? Whatever. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms as he impatiently waited for them to arrive. Sure enough, they did and needed to take a breather. That was fine.

For the time being, he opened the door and peered through. The garage was empty; dark even. He was lucky to still have his torch after dropping It back in the maternity ward. _–Luck comes and goes though…-_That was another mantra he had to keep in mind as he retreated back into the stairwell.

He fished out the keys from his pocket and tossed them to James. "You guys ready yet? I'll get you two to the van. Get it started while I turn on the generator. We'll be out of here in a flash."

"Gotcha."

"Let's move."

The three left the lighted security of the stairwell and plunged into the darkness of the parking lot. Only a few emergency lights guided the way, but even those weren't enough. Some were so weak, they flickered menacingly, giving anything lurking in the shadows the opportunity to strike. To make things worse, the hairs on the back of Liv's neck began to rise. There was that tingling feeling that someone had settled their eyes upon the three. It was almost as if his head was lined up in someone's scope. There was only silence though that conflicted with Liv's growing paranoia. He could hear his own ragged breathing and that of Jody and James.

_-I don't like this…Someone or something's here…Just wish it'd come out screaming so I can shoot it in the face.-_

The van was discovered beside the elevator and after thoroughly checking It for any monsters hiding in or around the vehicle, it made Liv breathe a bit easier. He wished his part in their little 'mission' was over, but once they pulled up to the generators, he groaned a little on the inside. _–Time to watch my ass. Again.- _

Just as he was climbing out, a hand clamped down onto his shoulder, causing him to look back into Jody's concerned face. "Be careful…" she warned him and bit down upon her lip. That cute face…even if they were no longer together, he still had the urge to kiss her. Better not though or else James might leave without him. "Yeah. I'll be in and out before you know it."

…

So much for being 'in and out'. Getting into the generator room wasn't a problem, nor finding it was. It was the fact that no matter what he did, he couldn't get the damn thing started! If only Mick were still alive; he'd know how to fix this thing. He had learned a couple things about mechanics and machinery and even bragged to Liv about it during the slow nights. Now, Liv wished he paid attention.

"God damnit…"

He fumbled with the wires again for the fifth time and cursed for the sixth time being shocked. He had to hurry the hell up! For all he knew, the god-damn parking lot could be chock-full of zombies and he'd rush into a bunch of them! Either that or…Bah, he didn't even want to think about anything else. Once again, he attempted the wiring again and after a good five to ten minutes later, he rose to his feet and paced back and forth.

"Piece of…SHIT!"

Angered, he gave the generator a good kick to vent his frustrations. Suddenly, the generator coughed and kicked into gear. The lights began to flicker until they finally set. That sure scared the shit out of him, but he grinned at the sight of his accomplishment. _–Maybe I should kick things more often…Like the T.V. in the break room.-_

Excitedly, he raced out of the generator room and raced across the parking lot as James flashed the validation card. The gate began to rise. Finally, they would stand a chance! He brightened up at the thought as he drew closer and closer towards the exit where James had finally passed the gate and waited on the other side for him. Jody poked her head out from the passenger window. "C'mon, hurry up!" he heard her quip which only made him smile.

_-Yeah…they could drive the hell away from here…-_

Suddenly, his torch fell from his pocket and bounced off his toe. The little light skidded and rolled down to where the card reader stood. Frowning, he jogged back for the light and bent down to pick it up. No big deal…The little torch shouldn't be given up so easily anyway…

Jody suddenly screamed, "LIV WATCH OUT!"

_-Huh?-_

He turned around just in time to see the red-skinned creature again and dove out of the way as it slashed it's razor sharp claws into the device. Bits of wire and plastic scattered in different directions as the little box exploded on impact. Sparks sizzled out from the stump of the card reader and something happened that made Liv's heart drop; the gate slammed shut, leaving him separated from his only chance out of here.

_-No…-_

He could hear Jody screaming and the muffled shouts of James as he struggled to keep her inside the van. The crimson creature made another swipe at Liv again who only veered away from those rail-spike claws. What made the situation worse was the fact that now the dead who wandered outside the hospital suddenly grew interested in the chaos just outside the parking lot—mainly from Jody's high pitched screams. They began to head in their direction. One or two was fine…But there seemed to be a mass outside and if that was the case, there was a big chance those two would get yanked right out of the windows and eaten alive on the street. He couldn't let that happen.

There was only one thing to do.

The creature missed another swing again and roared with frustration and charged. Liv quickly aimed his sights and pulled the trigger. The creature's eye exploded into a milky white mess and the creature instantly staggered back from the critical hit. It's claws tore into it's own face as it held it tight and shook violently. Liv was the one to charge instead, lifting his foot to Spartan-kick it into a blue sedan behind it. The creature slammed into it, shattering the window and cratered the door. For now, it lay motionless… But hearing another roar echo from a distance still had him quick on his feet.

He turned to Jody who suddenly stopped her struggles and stared at the red-head trapped behind the gate. It seemed like an eternity as they stared at one another. Those puffy eyes began to well with tears and she shook her head at him. "No…No, please…" she began to beg at the sight of him now smiling at her.

For some reason, it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

For some reason, everything was going to be okay; with or without him. There was so much to talk about…and so many things to forgive and be forgiven for. Knowing he was never going to get that closure now was…just fine.

_-as long as she's safe…I guess that'll be my closure.-_

"GO! Get out of here! Get out of the city as fast as you can and don't you DARE look back!" he shouted towards the van. He knew James heard him; he had to. The van still refused to move and Liv grinded his teeth. "I said get the fuck outta here!" he shouted once again. After what seemed like an eternity, Jody began to struggle again until she was yanked back into the van. The van jerked, but eventually it began to drive away. Slowly at first, but eventually it sped off and they were gone.

They were gone.

Jody was gone.

And he was all alone.

**-ROAR-**

Not exactly…

But now wasn't the time to start dragging ass. He frantically looked around for an alternative solution and soon found one glowing in green; EXIT. Quickly, he raced for it just as he heard the hasty stomping of yet another creature he didn't want to bother toying with._ –Shit,shit,shit..!-_ He threw himself against the door and pushed against the bar. God-damn door was heavy! No wait—after hearing the scraping of various items being pushed from the door, he was furious! Just what kind of hospital would even put shit in the way of an exit?

_-If I could, I'd sue!-_

Eventually, he made an opening wide enough to allow him to squeeze through. As he pulled his leg free, he saw what was chasing him down; a crimson who roared as he shoved the door against it. Of course, the damn thing had to wedge it's arm into the opening and flail it's damn hand around. Liv gasped and shrank back from the swiping claws that scratched at the door. _–Motherfucker!- _He ground his teeth again and aimed for the arm once it was outstretched and it's claws were out of reach. The gun punched two clean holes straight through the palm of it's hand and forearm. A roar could be heard from the inside and the arm finally retreated, causing the door to slam shut upon it's claws. The door was heavy enough to snap them clean off.

As the end bits of the claws scattered onto the floor, Liv slumped against the door and gasped for air. The rain was a welcoming presence even if he knew after a while, he'd be cursing at the weather. Already, he was cursing the faint moaning and groaning heard out on the streets. Reality struck him again when he realized there was no one at his side. There was no asshole to bitch about every move he made. There was no one who could tenderly tend to his wounds. There was no one to protect anymore. Why did that make his chest throb?

_-…Time to get moving.-_

He forced himself up onto his feet and made haste.

….

Much to his horror, the hospital windows didn't lie. The only thing the once sterilized halls did was keep the smell of charred flesh and gas from plaguing his senses. The fact that it rained only worsened the smell. _–So much for getting a fresh breath of air.-_ Not only that, but it was difficult to venture out onto the street. Not only where there overwhelming crowds of zombies, but there were cars piled up like firewood, blocking entire streets and still burning with their dead drivers and passengers trapped inside. Twisted metal, broken glass, blood, and bodies…That was something Liv wasn't willing to climb over.

_-As if pick-pocketing the dead wasn't enough…crawling over them would probably guarantee my ticket to hell…amongst other things…-_

The plan was simple; head home first. At first, it sounded like a stupid thing to do…But he sorted out the pros and cons as he began his way. First, he could get the hell out of these clothes. He wished Jody didn't point out the fact that his backside was soaked with rotten blood. Now he felt ten times grimier than ever. Even a roll in a pig pen would feel more sanitary than this.

Second, he had supplies there. Things to eat on the run (literally), medical kits (left from Jody), and ammunition he felt he was going to need very soon. Since he was forced to leave his car back at the hospital, it was going to be one hell of a hike to get to the Station. The only problem was, he was by himself. Granted, he could defend himself if he had to, but just like anyone else he could get overwhelmed as well. As much as he wished he could be Rambo as a kid, it wouldn't happen now or ever.

_-Would be cool though…-_

Making it to Army Street wasn't as hard as he thought. The undead population was scarce and wandering mindlessly around. Some pressed their faces against car windows. Others stood by mailboxes, staring up at the sky like turkeys during a storm. It would've been somewhat amusing to see one drown in the rain water .

Finally, he approached his apartment complex. Before, he liked it just because of how old it looked from the outside. When he first came to see the apartment, many of the rooms were recently renovated with brand new floors and freshly painted walls. Jody had absolutely fallen in love with the place. The love didn't stop there. Once they had gotten to the room they wanted to see, Jody was ecstatic! Not only was it beautiful, but it was just a block or two from the hospital! Liv didn't enjoy the thought that his place would be literally across town from the station, but seeing her happy was enough to take it.

Now that the power was out at the complex as well, it looked dark and foreboding. It reminded him of a giant pandora's box; he'll never know what's inside until he explored it. Surely it wouldn't be as bad as the hospital, right? If anything, he'd only deal with a handful of the undead. Somehow, what seemed so horrifying hours ago, seemed just a little more tolerable now. Just a little.

Suddenly, howls echoed throughout the street followed by the pitter-patter of paws against the concrete. Liv's heart leapt up into his throat and he ran into the complex without giving it a second thought. _–What the hell was that?...-_

Brushing the thoughts aside, he found himself in yet another stairwell (stairs…ugh) and started up the flights. Much to his relief, the two had chosen the corner apartment on the third floor. What troubled him the most was just how quiet the hallway was. When things were as normal as they could get, he always could hear some form of life while passing by the other rooms after a long day from work. Children playing, T.V. shows, arguments, music…No matter what, it was never the same. Back then, knowing that people were continuing on with their ordinary lives because of the work he did made him feel ten times better by the time he got to his own door.

Now, there was only silence that accompanied him.

He also noticed the lack of destruction and carnage. The hall was empty, but clean and pristine as it had always been. Unlike the hospital, it looked as if the building were suffering nothing but a power outage and people were either sleeping or sitting on the floors of their rooms in boredom. Liv didn't know what was scarier; seeing the total destruction like that of the hospital, or seeing how undisturbed things were here at the complex and not knowing what was coming up next. It made him shiver and make haste for his home.

A quick sweep of the room showed that his place was left untouched and no undead intruders managed to slip inside. Good. He made a bee line for the bathroom, ripped off his gloves and threw them into the waste basket before he got to the sink. The gloves didn't do much justice in keeping his hands clean. What was exposed of his fingers was caked with grime, and bodily filth from the zombies he was forced to make contact with.

_-Blood, rot, puss…God, it smells so bad…-_

And it was tough to wash off as well. No matter how much soap he squirted onto his hands and scrubbed, they never looked clean.

Or felt clean.

Not only did the smell refused to go away, it now mixed with the scent of French vanilla. The smell alone twisted his stomach into knots. His vision swam just a bit and his heart began to pound. Not with fear, but with frustration plagued by the nausea that soon ate away at him.

_-Stupid…fucking cheap soap…-_

His jaw tightened and he snatched up the small bottle, ripping off the cap and dumping globs of it's contents onto his hands. He scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but no matter what happened, the smell simply refused to putter out. The scent alone was unbearable.

The odor caused him to reflect back on his moments in the hospital. From Jake's horrific end, to the maternity ward.

_-My unborn son…- _

The infantile screams drowned out the sound of the running tap water. His stomach twisted the moment he smelled that rotten, coppery scent. It smelled stronger now and he looked up to see the source; the sink. Instead of running the hot tap the way he left it, it piped crimson instead. The liquid was as dark as the pools of blood he constantly stepped over in the hospital. It looked as thick as the spray that caked onto the walls after their heads had exploded into skull fragments and gray matter.

_-This…This isn't happening…None of this is real..It's nothing but a bad dream.-_

The smell alone made his eyes water and hot bile threaten to bubble up his throat.

_-Please let this be a dream…-_

His plea went unheard and he felt his stomach lurch. Quickly, he scrambled to the toilet and forfeited his hearty breakfast he made this morning. Stringers of vomit clung to his lips as he stared at the thick, milky acidic contents in the bowl. His vision swam once again and he slumped against the toilet like a drunk, passing out into an uncomfortable slumber.

…

_He couldn't stop thinking about it. His need to know the truth felt like a real living force that dragged him and his car back towards the hotel. It shoved his car into the parking stall and killed the engine, leaving Liv to sit and stare at the very room he saw the both of them walk into. They hadn't left since. It was only obvious as to what they were doing…Right?_

"…_Why?"_

_-You know why. You stopped being there for her.-_

_His brows furrowed and he squeezed the steering wheel for the third time that night. He had worked so hard…For the both of them…and this is what he got? A knife to the back? This was a crock of shit! The more he sat, the more he dwelled upon it and the more he dwelled upon it, the more red he began to see. _

_Not wanting them to have the opportunity to present themselves as if nothing was going on, he kicked down the door to room 203 and his fiery gaze landed upon Jody who jumped at the violent action. Almost immediately, she had pulled away from the blonde man and buttoned up the top three buttons of her pink blouse. The man had stood up, acting bold and brave to protect Liv from his own girlfriend. Or ex in this case._

_Nothing mattered now. His gaze tunneled onto Jody and her frightened, guilt-stricken expression. She turned red in his vision as well. _

"_Liv…"_

"_Shut up."_

_The tears that welled up in Jody's eyes only made him want to vomit. What he once saw as beautiful, struck him as nothing but ugly. Disgusting. She only made him sick and after this? He wanted nothing to do with her. The gun that should've stayed dormant in his jacket pocket, now had it's sights locked upon the blonde man who's eyes had widened like dinner plates._

"_Wot the hell're you doing? Jody! T-Tell him to put the gun down!"_

_Liv only lifted his wicked glare from Jody to the blonde man. Brows furrowed and the gun began to tremble in his hands. James Wells. He was a well known man with a college degree or two. Not only did he continue research in new development of medicines in the Umbrella Corporation, but he also had a degree in Psychology and also offered therapy in the past. _

"_I told you to counsel her, not fuck her," he growled coldly, "I thought I could trust you."_

_James didn't know what to say and remained silent, gulping at the sight of the gun leveled with his face as the man holding it turned his attention upon Jody._

"_Leave him—"_

"_How many times, huh?"_

_His lip curled into a snarl, his anger steadily rising at the ignorance she feigned. His thumb pulled back the hammer and he calmly asked again. "How many times were you doing things with this piece of shit? What? Did he take you on his desk too?"_

_His voice waivered, but the gun held steady now. _

_She shook her head. It made him explode. _

"_HOW MANY TI—"_

"_F-For three months!"_

_Liv's deadpan expression only made Jody tremble and soon burst into tears. She crumpled before him, but he didn't feel any remorse for her. Not a single drop of remorse. It was only crocodile tears to him. If he hadn't caught her, how long would this have gone on under his nose? Would she have ever told him the truth and leave their home to sleep in his bed? _

_His heart hammered in his chest. "Three months behind my back, huh?...Okay then." _

_The gun lowered and Liv pulled the trigger. Jody jumped and screamed, but the two didn't realize just where that bullet went until the pains began to flare up in James' left foot. There, a clean hole had ripped through the finely polished black leather of his dress shoe. Blood gushed from the wound as James stumbled and eventually fell onto his back once Liv decided to shut his screaming up with a solid fist to the man's jaw. He watched as the man dramatically tumbled, taking a lamp down with him and groaned as he pathetically grabbed at his injured foot. _

_Enraged, Liv stomped on the man, shouting every curse there was to think of. He wanted to crush this man, to step on him until his body blended into the carpet like a shit stain. That's what he was; nothing but a piece of shit. A stupid son of a __**BITCH!**_

_He ignored Jody's pleas as he drove his boot into the man's gut. He kicked him again and again until he felt a petite body thrown against him. For a moment, he wanted to ignore the excess body weight crying and clinging to him and kick the shit out of that loser some more…But the more she clung to him, the more he felt the warmth of her body against his…_

_The more nauseated he felt. He stopped his beatings and curled his hand into the collar of her pink blouse as if she were nothing but another punk on the street he was ready to bust. _

"_listen to me and listen carefully. We're done. Finished. Your shit will be piled up outside of my door."_

…..

He awoke to the water still running in the sink and the acrid scent of vomit that now assaulted his nose and threatened him to a second round to bring up what little contents he now had in his stomach. His gaze lifted up to the bit of faucet he could see from where he sprawled out and was relieved to find that the blood was nothing but his own imagination.

-Don't know what's worse…recalling that night or going through this shit-tacular event.-

His body—especially his neck, ached from the awkward, drunken position he had taken against the toilet. The contents were flushed and Liv went to work in washing his face and getting rid of that acidic taste in his mouth. He had to admit, the first five minutes after he puked, it felt so much better. After that, he felt like total shit until he passed out.

_-So much for this all being a dream…-_

Seeing the carnage still there where he left it on the streets only motivated him to quickly pack up things. He shoved as much supplies as he could in a backpack. Ammo, medical necessities, food…Everything he could think up of in an instant. Staying in a single place for too long was too dangerous in his opinion.

Clothes were readily stripped and tossed to the side, replaced with a leather jacket, a white undershirt and a pair of denim jeans. As he tied his boots with haste, his phone sprung to life and howled on his bed, screaming at him to be picked up. The poor officer who was already at wits end, yelped in surprise and almost scrambled away from it. _–Who the hell?...-_

He snatched it up and answered the call. "…Hello?" _–Way to answer the phone at a time like this…-_

A panicked, but familiar voice was at the other end. "Liv! Oh…Oh thank god, you're still alive! We heard about what happened at the hospital…It's getting worse down here too."

_-Dave!-_

Liv began to pace about, running hands through his grimey hair. For a moment, he mourned the loss of time for a shower, but it was better being filthy than getting caught off guard with your junk hanging out. "Yeah it was…really bad."

"Where's Mick and Jake?"

Liv bit his lip, recalling their horrible deaths. "…They're dead."

Silence ensued over the line as Ford let the loss sink in. "I'm sorry to hear that…But you're okay, right? Where are you?"

"Yeah I'm alright for now. I'm actually back at home. I'm heading down to you guys at the station. How is it down there?"

Hearing a frustrated sigh over the line didn't sound too good in Liv's opinion. "I…I don't know. We're taking in as much civilians as we can. I hear the mob took over the Industrial district…Lots of our guys were hurt… I don't understand. We have all the firepower…we've set up road blocks…But there's no use! It's like those people aren't human…"

Liv snorted. _–you have no idea.-_

"Yeah I know what you mean. Look, keep doing what you're doing. People are relying on you guys down there so don't lose your cool. I'll be there and help out as much as I can."

"…How?"

They both knew that there was no way Liv could get there with any vehicle. Not only the cars piled up like twisted metal road blocks, but there were those things roaming on the streets. It was just too dangerous.

"I'll figure out something. Just be careful."

"…You too, Liv. Don't die out there."

Liv had to smile when he heard Ford's concern over the line. Sure most of the time they weren't on the best of terms, but just that bit of encouragement did wonders to lift Liv's spirits. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and was about to make way for the door, but froze at the sight of it being wide open.

_-…I'm not that much of a moron to leave the door open…am I?-_

What scared him the most was the dark silhouette standing in the doorway. It wasn't human….

_-…Wait. Where's Rebel?-_

It hit him in that instant that when he barged into his home, Rebel was nowhere to be found. Shakily, Liv reached into his pocket for his trusty little torch and shed light upon the mysterious shadow. It was no other than his German shepherd, but there was something strange about him. The dog braced itself as if it was ready to attack, it's head hung low and his fur was…caked with grime and…

_-Blood…No, not you too…-_

The glare of Liv's torch danced along the dead, white marble eyes of the canine as it's chewed ears pulled back and it's lip curled into a snarl. It's head twitched and twitched again as the skin upon Rebel's forehead began to split down the middle.

_-N-No…that isn't just the skin…-_

The young officer watched in horror as his former pet's head suddenly split open into two separate heads! It's canine teeth grew larger, jagged and infectious and cut into it's lower lip while the fangs expanded. Saliva and blood stained the carpets as another head began to push through the fleshy center between the canine heads, tearing the thick milky strands of blood, pus, and slime. Flesh thinly covered the fresh canine skull, coated with bodily excrement and pus that soon dripped from elongated fangs and stained the carpet. It's thick fat tongue unceremoniously dropped out from it's open maw and splat wetly onto the carpet. What made Liv squicked the most was the fact that the near useless appendage had actual barbs protruding out from the pink muscle. The dog's mass had also grown as well, growing and stretching it's skin to extreme limits. Skin ripped and hung freely from the dog's body like stringers and screamers, exposing the now well muscled patches that throbbed in anticipation of bull-rushing the human before it and tear out his throat.

_-…What the hell?-_

He forced himself to watch his former pet mutate into something he couldn't comprehend. It's three heads sniffed the air and soon settled their dead gazes upon him, snarling at it's former owner. Like a predator stalking it's prey, the three headed creature slowly began to stalk towards Liv who in turn, slowly began to back away.

Was he in hell? Did he die back in the hospital and didn't even realize it? Did Mick actually save him from the red-skinned creature or did he get torn to shreds so fast, he didn't even notice his last breath? Was he another damned soul added to the collection that slowly began to grow within the City that would become their grave?

_-I'm dead. I'm in hell…That's just it. I __**have **__to be. There's no other explanation. No fuckin' virus can do this…-_

The middle head emitted a screech as the other two heads howled and charged for the young officer.

**AN: It's funny how my chapters keep…getting bigger. Lol well I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Gonna work on the next one now. FFFFFFF.. I really can't wait to write out a certain part of this story. Please enjoy!**


	10. Chapter IX

_-Sh-SHIT!-_

Not wanting to get his head torn off just yet, he brandished his gun and fired down upon the three-headed monster.

One shot grazed the shoulder.

Another shot skinned the left head, leaving a streak that exposed the blood-stained skull beneath.

Before he could fire again, the dog leapt for it's prey. _–Damn he's fast!-_

Survival instincts finally kicked into full gear once again and Liv threw himself to the ground as the dog's mass collided with the small dinner table and smashed it to bits. _–JESUS!-_ Quickly, he scrambled back to his feet, looping his other arm into the strap of his backpack and raced for the wide open door. Seeing an undead for wobbling at the doorframe, he skidded to a halt at the realization there was not only one, but several clogging up the hallway._ –Why is it that these fuckers only come out when I'm in trouble?-_

Hearing the rustle of wooden debris and snarling, he looked back to find Rebel upon all fours ready to strike again. It did something odd though. The barbed tongue that snagged up the carpet retracted into the center head's maw. It lurched, then leaned back and shot something toward Liv's head. With the good cat-like reflexes he had, Liv veered away from the pink blur only to realize what it was as it shot past him just inches from his face.

For Liv, the world seemed to slow to a crawling pace. He could see the intricate muscles of the tongue, pulsing and tensing as it began to stretch to an incredible length. The barbs were thick, sharp, and glistened wetly in what dim light had filtered into the room. He let his gaze travel along the elastic pink muscle and looked to where it had wrapped around the rotten neck of the zombie who stood in the way. For a moment, Liv could've sworn the zombie displayed the look of surprise as if it never expected this coming. Suddenly, everything seemed to return to it's horrific, quickened pace as the tongue tensed and crushed the undead cannibal's neck with ease. It's neck squelched like a crushed tomato and it's head popped clean off to bounce off the carpet and roll into a corner. Coagulated blood oozed out from the stump of the zombie's neck as the tongue quickly unraveled and retreated back into the confines of the center head's maw before relaxing and dropping back onto the carpet.

_-So much for that being useless.-_

Not wanting to stay trapped between the two, Liv aimed his sights as the former Rebel recovered and put a bullet in between the center head's sunken eyes. Much to his surprise, the bullet did more damage than he thought! The heads screamed in unison and it collapsed onto the floor, writhing in pain and struggling to get up for a round two. _–Nows my chance!-_ Quickly, he made haste for the window and ripped the blinds away. Knowing he only had so little time, he swore loudly when the window refused to budge.

Once again, rage-filled snarls and barks reached his ears and he spun about, plastering himself against the window at the sight of Rebel back on his feet._ –Shit…what am I gonna do?..Wait, the window!-_

Hands trembled as he pulled himself off of the glass. This plan was stupid, yes—especially after Liv had seen some gruesome tongue action the monster had with another zombie. Hopefully this thing was as dumb as rocks and…

"C'mon, boy!" He felt himself grinning. _Grinning!_ Why! "C'mon you _fucker!_"

The monster only proved Liv right as it snarled at his taunting and charged with incredible speed thanks to the pulsing muscles rippling beneath it's shredded skin. At the last second, it leaped for the officer who in turn, ducked once again. Rebel shot through the window and clean over the balcony, taking a three-story plunge and howled as it did so. It's howls were soon cut short by a heavy thud that Liv could both hear and feel.

_-…Didn't think that would work twice. Guess I'm lucky.-_

He ignored the undead that slowly began to barge in uninvited into his home and climbed out the broken remains of the window, careful not to cut himself. Once he peered over the balcony and saw the three headed carcass lay still under it's own pool of blood, he felt a bit of relief and…mournful over the fact that it was dead.

Rebel was dead. _–To think I raised him from when he was just a puppy…Never thought I'd ever point my gun at him. Never.- _"…At least you get to rest peacefully now, buddy," he shakily sighed and descended down the stairs and into the darkness of the alley.

The original part of his plan (that was mostly made up as he went) was to to get onto Mission Street and head down to the station. From there, his intent was to keep going down the main street, cut through city hall, and reach the Police Department. Once he saw the mass of cars and destruction that blocked his way, he obviously knew that this posed a big problem. Unless…

_-…The zoo. I can cut through the zoo without a problem. There shouldn't be anything infected runnin' around there. Even so, everything's locked up. It'll be a breeze.-_

Not wanting to stick around any longer, he ran out of the alley as fast as he could.

…..

Once he got to the zoo, his stomach liquefied into his feet. What was once a sturdy, decorative iron fence was now nothing more but a twisted heap as if something had charged and burst through. Bits of skin and rotten meat clung to the jagged bars that ripped away. _–The animals escaped from the zoo…Damn.- _Did the virus also grant incredible strength to those who were infected?

_-Whatever. It's not like I have a choice. The car pile ups on the street'll only slow me down.-_

Anyone who knew Liv well enough would know that he loved animals and what better place was there to view animals than the zoo? Even if Liv hardly ever visited the place, the times he went, he enjoyed every bit of it. He often went with Jody a few times when they were together, but the strongest memory he could recall at the moment was the time he went with someone he never expected to go with.

…..

_It was a warm summer day. The few clouds in the sky weren't the reason for Liv's dampened spirits. There were other reasons. Reasons he could've avoided…Should've avoided, but failed to do so. Even as he stood before the Elephant habitat and watched the giant mammal flap its giant ears, he couldn't bring himself to truly enjoy the place as he had done so in the past._

"_I didn't know you liked animals," he sighed and turned to his company who leaned against the railing. _

_Jessie Franks shrugged and leaned against the rail. "They're alright."_

_Liv frowned. "So…Why'd you bring me here? I thought we were gonna get coffee or somethin'?"_

_Jessie chuckled and took off his ball cap just to scratch at the back of his head. "Honestly, I have no idea. I remembered someone saying that you liked this kind of stuff. Thought it might make you feel better," he grinned and leaned to get a better look of his friend. "…Is it working?"_

_Liv couldn't deny that it was working. He felt the corner of his lips tugging just a little before he turned away, suddenly growing very interested in the animal that rubbed it's backside against a tree. "..Sort of."_

"_Yeah…I heard about what happened. So I'm guessing she moved out?"_

"_Yep."_

"_Heard you beat the living bag out of that guy too. What exactly did you do to him?"_

_Liv tore his gaze away from the elephant and looked Jessie straight in the eye. "I shot his foot and __**then **__beat the bag out of him."_

_Jessie's brows rose with slight amusement as if his surprised stare said 'are you shitting me?' to which Liv only retorted with a deadpan stare that pretty much said 'wouldn't you?' _

"_Jesus, Liv…" Jessie wiped at his face and stole a glance before he watched a smaller elephant pester the big male. "I…don't know what to say," the mechanic sighed and shook his head._

"_Just say what you want to say. Don't worry, I won't shoot you for it."_

_Jessie laughed. "No, It's not that. It's just…Well, I dunno. I've never been in your position before. I don't blame you for going ape-shit…'cuz if it was me in your shoes, I don't know what I would've done. Maybe I would've done the same thing you did…Or maybe something worse. I'm just sorry you had to go through that. I can't imagine me being paranoid over Susan…" Jessie outwardly cringed, "I wouldn't be able to handle it if she ever did that to me."_

_Silence fell over the two. The male swatted the small elephant with it's thick trunk and snorted in annoyance._

_Jessie started again, "what…Do you think happened?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean…like why do you think she did it? There has to be a reason…"_

"…_I don't know."_

"_There has to be something. Maybe…Something you did?"_

_Liv bristled at that and shot Jessie a look, "All I did was take care of her," he frowned and sighed when the mechanic put his hands up in defense, "Sorry."_

"_It's okay. I didn't mean it like that though."_

_The small elephant began to pester the male again._

_Once again, Jessie broke the uncomfortable silence. "..Do you think it was because she lost the baby?"_

_Liv inwardly cringed at the thought about their lost child. "Why would losing a child cause you to do something like that?" he muttered, his voice wavering. He recalled just how devastated Jody was when she had her miscarriage. She didn't eat for a couple days straight. She refused to attend school and sat in the darkness of their room every day, sitting with the baby blanket they had bought in anticipation for their child wrapped tightly around her body. The woman even refused to talk to Liv and she had shut down altogether. _

_After that, things were never the same._

_Liv never loved her any less although a tiny bit of him held some sort of resentment against her for losing the baby. Still though, he attended to work every day to support their needs and wants. He grieved as well over the loss of their unborn child, but he refused to simply sit in the dark and wither away. Instead, he kept himself busy as much as possible just to avoid the wretched hands of grieving as if it were a real, fleshy existence. He worked ridiculous hours and co-workers began to question his health. Knowing he was on a short fuse at the time though, no one dared to approach and simply left him to his own devices. The times Jody wanted to talk about the baby, Liv wouldn't hear any of it or change the subject. To him, why dwell upon it? What happened, happened and there was nothing the two of them could do about it. _

_Jessie stared at Liv now who began to crumble at the thought of the baby. "…I think it's what you didn't do, that made her reach out for someone else."_

_Liv bit his lip. As much as he hated to hear that, Jessie was…right. Liv was so busy trying to avoid the situation, he never realized that he actually had pushed Jody away as well. He had pushed her towards someone else…But still. What she did…stung._

_The Male elephant grunted and walked away from the other, leaving the small one standing beside the tree alone._

"…_I hate when you're right."_

_Jessie sighed. "Me too. Women are like cars. You spoil them…take good care of them…Give them everything they need and they'll go for miles with you," he grabbed out a pack of Malboros from his pocket and frowned. He did say he was going to quit… "But if you don't do what you're supposed to do, then you're stuck with nothing." He shoved the cigarettes back in his pocket and nudged the doom and gloom beside him.A change of subject was in order._

"_C'mon. It smells like shit over here and I'm dying for some hot wings and beer."_

…..

It felt so strange standing beside the elephant pen. Ironically, he was standing in the very spot that the two had conversed and stared at the tree where he watched the two giant mammals.

_-I gave her a reason to be selfish. It was because I was selfish too.-_

Feeling the sting of dwelling in the past, he pushed away from the railing and moved on.

The zoo proved to be as safe as he thought. Not a single creature was in sight. The larger animals either died in their cages or had escaped those hours prior, leaving the zoo to be nothing but an abandoned park. It was good for the time being. He passed the Tiger's pen, the Lion den, and continued on until he reached where they kept primates of all shapes and sizes. A sign caught his interest and he leaned in to read.

_-Baboons? We…have these? Since when?-_

Suddenly, a baboon had smashed itself against the iron bars of it's prison and screamed as it reached out for Liv. Poor Liv found himself screaming and flung himself back to only trip over a trash can and face plant onto the concrete. He found himself in a tangled mess as the Baboon continuously bashed itself against the Iron bars.

_-Heh…don't do __**that **__again, dumbass. Pay attention!-_

Groaning, he finally rolled himself off of the trash can and rose to his feet, glaring at the irate monkey who screamed at him again. As much as he wanted to blow it's stupid-looking face away, he needed to conserve his bullets. Besides, as far as he was concerned, the monkey was harmless so long as it was stuck in there. Only when he calmed himself down and made sure his heart wasn't going to leap from his mouth, did he realize the monkey was missing patches of fur.

_-…So any animal can get infected.-_

It's hands were covered in blood that smeared upon the bars and Liv knew why. There was nothing but carnage displayed in the monkey's pen. It wasn't human remains that were scattered all over the rocks and floating in the artificial pond.

_-…It killed and ate it's own kind.-_

Liv sighed, feeling remorse more than irritation and moved on, tuning out the Baboon's carnal screams.

He soon came across the large stretch of green that served as a mass picnic area for families and schools that often came to the zoo for field trips. What was once a cheery, peaceful environment was nothing more than abandoned and…eerie in Liv's eyes. The overcast that plagued the city only served to cast a sense of doom over the area. Then again, this city was doomed enough, thanks.

His gaze swept across the many things scattered across the grass. From trash to dropped food, to even bags, backpacks, and purses, it didn't take rocket science to know that these people left in a mad hurry. He didn't need to question why. What he questioned more than anything, was just how many people here managed to run to safety?

_-Probably not a lot considering I've only seen dead people today.-_

He continued on, kicking trash and debris to the side as he plunged himself into self loathing and dark thoughts. Jody…James…had they made it to safety? Or how far did they actually get? Were they dead or wandering around just like he was?

Speaking of himself, how long was he going to last? Was he going to make it to the police station at all? Or was he going to get torn up by something worse than Rebel and have the birds pluck out his eyes and have them for lunch?

He groaned to himself until he felt something thwack against his back. Startled, he jumped and spun around. No one was there. "What the hell?..." he grumbled and straightened his jacket only to have something else smack against his shoulder this time and tore a sliver of leather. This time, he whirled around to have a black oily feather flutter in front of his face and watch as the culprit sailed into a tree.

"**CAW!"**

_-…just a crow.-_

Crows were nothing but sadistic little bastards. They were too smart for their own good in his opinion. He recalled the last time he ate lunch at the park. One of those bastards swooped down and stole a beak-full of his fries and retreated into the trees. Then another had the audacity to land upon his bench and bite at his fingers. Once the startled Liv dropped his cheeseburger, the damn crow helped himself to bite after bite of the officer's lunch. Well, the coke had been good at least, but that was the last time he decided to eat lunch in the park.

He glared at the tree the crow resided in and waited for it to swoop down once again. Sure enough, a black mass of feathers dropped down for the tree, it's target no other than the human before it. Liv drew his pistol immediately and shot the oncoming bird. It exploded into a mess of blood and feathers and Liv grinned, satisfied over his victory. "Steal my food again, you bastards."

For some reason, he regret killing the bird and he quickly found out why.

"**CAW!" **

**"CAW, CAW!"**

His triumph quickly dissolved into nothing as the caws of the crows grew louder and sounded more populated by the minute. The scariest part of the situation was the fact that there was no visible threat in sight. He checked his left, his right…he even whirled around and not a thing was present behind him. It was only when another oily black feather floated down in front of his face did he realize where the threat exactly was. Once he looked up, he discovered several things at once. One, it was very rare to be threatened by something that was in the general _up_ direction. Normally people get attacked head on or flanked from the left or right. Some people even get surprise attacked from behind, but someone being attacked from…above?

_-Holy shit!-_

High up in the overcast sky was a mass of black crows that incessantly cawed and squawked at his presence. To Liv, they looked like more than just crows. If anything, they looked like a bad omen. After all, some believed that crows were a bad omen for unlucky travelers. Or was it Ravens? Liv could never tell the difference. Anyway, that didn't matter just then. He never saw Crows act so aggressively. The only time he ever did see them attack was when they felt their nest was being threatened. Now, they acted as a collective mass and their bizarre nature only rubbed him the wrong way.

_-This is bad…-_

Not wanting to see the damage they can do, he made a run for it and the crows bolted after him.

_-REALLY BAD!-_

"Shit!" Never did he think he would ever be attacked by a crow. Or thousands of them at once. They all clouded up the sky and casted a shadow upon his running form. He knew he couldn't keep this pace up. He'd either tire out and the birds would catch him, or he'd still be running and they would catch him anyway. Either way, it wasn't looking too good for him—especially when one smacked him on the leg.

As he ran, he contemplated on how ridiculous this was. Death by crows sounded like a very stupid way to go. Of all the things he faced; zombies, red-skinned freaks, the blob…even the three headed creature that was once his fucking pet…He could've been torn asunder, chewed on, digested alive and yet, here were these crows that quickly closing in and ready to dig in while he was running low on fumes. His lungs burned, legs cramped, feet throbbed, and lips grew dry as his mouth refused to snap shut as he sucked in as much air as he could. _–Stupid…fuckin…birds…!- _

Both he and the crows knew that this little game of 'cat and mouse' was going to soon come to an end. The question was; who will win the game? Liv frantically looked about as he made the longest run for his life across the green and suddenly spotted a safe haven he nearly sprinted past; the reptile exhibit._ –There!- _Luckily for him, the reptile exhibit was designed in a way to give the people the feel as if they were actually walking into a cave. It also linked to the 'creepy crawler' section where the spiders, scorpions, and other critters crawled about in their glass cases. He hated that part of the zoo, but he knew he couldn't be too picky at a time like this. He made his final mad dash for the mouth of the artificial cave and quickly unlatched the heavy door. Gritting his teeth, he pulled it closed and nearly had a heart attack when a crow managed to squeeze it's body halfway into the closing crack. It screamed and squawked, but it's pained cries went unheard as Liv yanked the door closed and cleaved it's body in half with a crunch and a squish. It's upper torso splat wetly onto the ground and twitched. He blanched as the remains of the crow still squirmed and squawked in the dim light that filtered through the cracks of the double doors.

The good news was that he managed to cheat death for the umpteenth time. His record went on for…how long? Hours? A day? He did recall the time he passed out back at the apartments…Christ, did he pass out for that long? Time was lost to the officer and his brow furrowed at the realization of it._ –Funny when shit goes downhill…- _

Pushing that thought aside, he glanced back at the darkness around him. Not a single light showed him the path to enlightenment and he scowled, thinking that this was a very shit idea indeed. _–Well it's either playing with the crows or groping around in the dark.- _He brought out the small torch and lit the way, revealing the darkened glass cages and the glittering glare from shattered pieces scattered across the floor. What exactly was this part of the exhibit? He inched his way over towards the largest glass display and noticed the gaping, jagged hole and the blood that coated the sharpened edges._ –Something crawled out of here…-_

Once he looked towards the plaque, his shoulders slumped in defeat and despair.

" **Burmese Python. **_**Python molurus bivittatus"**_

His forehead bumped against the plaque and he sagged against the wall, eyeing at the smashed glass and the blood that coated it. "Snakes…" he grumbled and slid down the stony wall to hug his legs. "Why'd it have to be snakes?..." he groaned and let himself tip over to lay upon the chilled floor. He shivered, knowing what kind of monstrosity was on the loose. The worst part was the fact that there was a high chance of it being infected just like the rest of the animals he had encountered so far. He wouldn't doubt that was what allowed the Python the strength to burst through the enforced glass display to attack it's observers.

_-Seriously…-_

He was trapped in the dark with a fucking snake that was probably lurking around as he moped. The flashlight before him revealed any shadow-filled corner and much to his relief, there was no snake. So far.

He moped over the fact that now he had no choice but to traverse through the pitch-darkness of the exhibit and hope and pray to whatever god was up there that he wouldn't run into the damn thing or something far worse._ –But what could be far worse than giant undead snakes?-_ He grimaced and curled into himself, not wanting to find out the answer to that just yet. This only made the past events nothing but happy and distant memories. The thought of going in with only his torch as the source of hope made his skin crawl and his stomach do somersaults.

He recalled the very first incident with a snake that scarred him for life. His elementary class went to the zoo for a field trip and the keeper decided to win some 'extra cool' points and bring out their friendly female Burmese Python, Annie out for the kids to marvel at. Liv being the one most curious about the animal got to hold a heavy part of the snake in his arms along with three other kids. He was unfortunately at the tail end which curled about his shoulders..and eventually around his neck when the keeper failed to pay attention. It naturally began to squeeze which scared the living hell out of him. By the time they had wrestled the tail off of him, he was already seeing blotches and swirls of light and had to leave the excursion early. He swore off of snakes of every kind ever since.

The fear still never left him. It grabbed him, shook him like a dog with a bone and stuffed him in a corner to curl into himself like a feeble, sissy little girl. He frowned as a lock of hair passed before his eyes and he huffed, frowning at the emptiness of what the flashlight revealed. Luckily for him, the other glass displays were left intact for the smaller reptilians although he would rather deal with lizards and other small game rather than one, giant, angry-ass snake that would probably find him in his corner soon.

_-Come on, Liv…stop acting like a weenie.-_

Knowing that sitting and moping wasn't going to get him anywhere, he finally pushed himself up to his feet, picked up the light and continued cautiously through the darkness. Glass crunched under his feet as he traversed through the displays. Most of the smaller animals lay dead in their habits. Others squirmed and waited for death and…Most likely the rest of them were caught off guard in the recesses of their holes and little caves since some displays seemed empty. _–So far, so good…-_ he held his breath on that thought as he looked down and realized that he had unknowingly been following a blood-smeared trail most likely left by the renegade snake. He froze mid step and followed the trail that eventually led to a vent up along the wall._ –didn't know they could do that…But I really have to be careful. Blood's fresh…Means it can still be hiding up there…-_ he swallowed and continued on, hating the fact that he literally had to not only watch his back and front…But from the left, to the right, and even from the goddamn _ceiling_. He learned his lesson with the crows just a few moments ago.

Deciding that it was time to 'man up or shut-up', he silently continued through the exhibit, cautious and aware that should he make a single mistake, he could be done for and god knows how he would be done-in. The hairs rose upon the back of his neck as he continued through the dead silence and darkness. Beads of sweat began to collect upon his forehead. A lump in his throat began to swell up to the size of a golf ball. His breathing hitched at the slightest sound. It was to the point where even his own shadow would scare him. What made him nearly jump out of his skin was when he heard something fall inside the broom closet he was in the middle of passing. Immediately, he snapped both his gun and attention upon the door. Once again, he heard someone—or something rustle, causing Liv to clench his jaw.

If anything, he would rather deal with it now than avoiding it and having that mistake (literally) bite him in the ass later on. He wouldn't leave a stone unturned for anything to hide from him and attack should the opportunity arise. It was best just to open the closet, shoot anything trying to hide it's smug, ugly face, slam the door shut and continue on to get the hell out of this place. Slowly, he inched towards the door, keeping both his gun and light trained upon it.

He lowered his torch hand and grabbed the knob. _–Get this over with…Three…Two…One…!-_

He threw the door open and aimed his sights down at the poor man who screamed and made a sad attempt to bury himself into the collection of mops and brooms to avoid the sudden surprise attack. For a moment, Liv was surprised, but the feeling soon melted away into annoyance and fear considering the man's rather girlish screams could attract anything towards their position. Immediately, he reached in and snatched the man by the back of his collar, forcefully dragging him out. The man kicked and squirmed until he was pinned against the wall with a hand clamped over his mouth. He would've squirmed some more if the barrel of the officer's gun wasn't just inches from his eye.

"Shut…the _fuck_ up. I'm not going to hurt you," Liv growled and slowly eased away from the man, "What the hell were you doing in there?"

The man was actually just a teenager. He sported the standard issue of a Janitor's uniform along with his curly mop of brown hair stuffed under a Patriots ball cap. The freckles upon his face wrinkled as his face contorted into terror—something Liv was accustomed to seeing. "I…I didn't know where else to go, man! The animals got loose in the zoo…don' ask me how, they just did! A..And when I came out of the bathrooms…People were screamin'…" The janitor sighed and leaned against the wall. "There were these…ugly bastids that got in th' zoo! I dunno where those assholes came from, but theys was attackin' everyone! Bitin' them n'shit… So I ran with everyone else through hea and…That's when Cindy escaped."

Liv's brow rose. "Cindy?..."

"Yeh, the Burmese we had. She started actin' weird days before all dis' crap happened! She started to eat the people who tried to get around her…So I hid in the closet…" The janitor shivered at the recollection of the screams, the snapping of human bone, the tearing of flesh, and the spilling of blood…

Liv shivered all the same. A _Burmese_ of all things…

"I-I jus' didn't wanna die, man! What're we gonna do!" the janitor's voice escalated in which Liv's annoyance skyrocketed agan and he clamped his hand over the young man's mouth again. The hell if he was going to let this dumbass cause a racket and get the both of them killed!

"For starters, we're gonna play the **quiet** game here. I think that snake is still lurking around here and standing here and panicking isn't going to do _shit_ for us. We'll get the hell out of here, but we need to stay calm and quiet…Understand?" The janitor quickly nodded his head in compliance, looking wide-eyed down at the officer who had one hell of a short fuse. Then again, no one can be blamed for being so irritable in a shit-tastic situation like this, right?

The palm of Liv's hand slowly slid away from the Janitor's mouth and fell back onto his pistol. Without another word, Liv continued on his way, illuminating a path into the darkness of the exhibit.

**A/N: Heeey! Ohh…L-Lol Looks like I posted a little consistently. D: Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! It was kinda sitting in the dust around the end of June and I just wanted to proof-read it to make sure everything about it was at least up to par. I'm back at my moms (not homeless yay!) and so far, things are working out. I'm still workin on getting a place, but imma take this time to write, relax, enjoy my outings and save up my money! Stay tuned!**


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